Smithereens Press Chapbooks Taking the Oath by Tom French | Page 29

Berry Lodge, Loughcrew, c.1916
Sgt. Harry Albert Berry, London Regt.

Everybody lives eternally
that afternoon, in this frame.
Behind the house, away from
the road, nasturtiums
prosper on a sill in pots,
panes return a shaded light,
creeper seeks a way under
eaves; the children are whole.
Harry has forgotten the pipe
bowl cooling in his palm,
the photographer’s request
for stillness, a last smile,
as though he has been
moved to grief and veneration
by the rhythm and tone
of his own citation leaving all that was dear
to him, and passing beyond
the sight of men that others
might live in freedom -

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