We were snowed under with entries for our annual Remembrance poetry competition this year.
And when the authors read them out at the East Ham Cenotaph on Sunday, it made for truly emotional moments.
Many present at the gathering said they were looking forward to seeing them again in this week’s Newham Recorder print edition. But here they are as well on our website.
Many in the crowd also took the trouble to come over to the authors and thank them for “bringing a tear to their eyes.”
The winning entry for adults came from Marion Sage, of Plaistow:
Appalled and appalling
How did you court sleep when you came back
The pictures you carried in our head
What did you do with them.
Clinging to comradeship, courage, country
How did you face your return
To normality, dishonour and lies
And carry on decently, quietly, honestly.
Telling never-published stories
to your children and grandchildren
Who still hold you with love and respect
You are owed that you never told
As well as all you gave.
Our fighters, our warriors,our heroes.
The runner-up in the adults section came from Joan Crumlish, of East Ham:
On November the eleventh, I feel the chill,
The two minutes silence always
will,
Send a shiver down my
spine, for in that silence I recall,
The young who died to save us all,
And saved this life of mine,
I’ve tried to offer up my thanks,
To those in the air or sea or tanks,
The officers or other ranks who fell,
No words can ever bridge the gap,
No way can I repay,
All I can do is bow my head and say,
God Bless you all and rest in peace,
May wars and fighting one day,
Cease and the guns fall silent.
In the young person’s section, the winning entry came from Sarfaraz Salim, 13, of Forest Gate
Remember November
We are sad and sorrow for those we have lost
We will never forget them at any cost
Our beloved ones protected us and died
We and they stand side by side
We wear poppies for their sake and
Represent their blood with poppies that we make
Soldiers who died gave up their lives
With honour and dignity and all their pride
This is why we have Remembrance Day
To remember the blood they shed on a day like today
So we should always remember November.
And runner-up was Millie Rees, nine, from Bristol:
There we pray, where the beloved
soldiers lay.
They lay on the poppy fields, after fighting with their shields.
Suddenly, a bomb falls from the sky, whilst the soaring
birds fly.
Bullets from the guns, killed lovely sons.
When you wish upon a star, they will never be that far.
Scarlet poppies everywhere, read the grave stones if you dare.
Horrible bombs that you hear, just to make it all so clear.
Soaring birds in the sky, why oh why did they die?
Then they lead into the sky, thinking about it makes me
really want to cry.
When it’s nearly breaking dawn, the poppies grow all over my lawn.
Just to thank those so brave, we will put them in a large grave.
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