Remembrance Day 2000/2001

I entered a contest for the Royal Canadian Legion back in 2000 for their Senior Essay/Poem Category and locally I won nationally in Ontario January 13th for Branch 13 in Scarborough while I was still in high school. All across Canada I won 2nd place. Just missed being the top to go to Ottawa and be part of the Rememberance Day for a year later November 2011.

It was very excited to win something I love to do and get a pay check for it for one time.

It was for me something I thought I couldn't do but made it very close.

The Rememberance Day Poem I wrote:
It was more than decades ago
When the first bombs destroyed many nations.
It all seems so senseless
The death and destruction of God's creation.

Families watched helplessly
As men filed out the door
To preserve their nation's values
And all they stood for.

through all this, one thing remained.
Silence - it was everywhere.

The quiet anxiety of what lay ahead -
As cries of anguish and pain filled the Dominion.
The loss of life, the possibility of death -
While loved ones hoped for a peaceful reunion.

The crash of bombs and warplanes took many lives
These will never be replaced, but there is hope
That at least once a year, we can gather to reflect and remember
Canada's valiant -    lost forever.

Through all this one thing remains.
Silence - it is everywhere.

It came again - in the land of the Maple Leaf
There was destruction and war and an air of grief.
Why such senselessness, why such hate
We must stand up for peace before it's too late.

There comes a time when every woman and man
Should take a stand against war - to stand up and fight
Not to bear arms to conquer or build to destroy.
Then and only then can things turn out right.

All through the ages, silence remained.
Ignoring the wars, the destruction and pain.

Don't let the silence live on - show that you care
So that one day we can hope for peace everywhere.