It has been said
My generation can't relate
To the sacrifice
Previous generations have made
For us.
And yet
For me.
Every time
I see or hear
My last name.
Am reminded
Of the ultimate price
For freedom
Of my paternal homeland.
As more than
7, 600 Canadian soldiers
Are buried
In Dutch graves.
Tomorrow
Marks seventy years
Since German command
Surrendered.
Having grown up
In Canada
I heard stories
About the Hunger Winter.
How my aunt
And her family survived
By eating flower bulbs.
But
Very little
From my dad.
Except for
One post-liberation story.
In which
He and other boys
Lit cigarette cans
With gasoline and bullets.
Until
Parents stopped it.
For liberation was
An early birthday present
For my dad
As his birthday is
May 12th.
With these somber ceremonies
Am reminded
Of the lost
His death
And his connection
With this past
I need.
Wanting to share
My heartfelt thanks
To those soldiers.
By placing
A bouquet of red tulips
And a white rose
On every monument
That honours
Canadian grave sites
In the Netherlands.
With my dad
By my side.
Sadly
He died
On November 15, 1998.
Still
In five years time
I feel this need
To honour them
And my dad.
In marking
Seventy-five years
Of liberation
And my fiftieth year.
Therisa © 2015
