Poppies for the fallen........

We drove for hours.

All of us crammed into a car without air-conditioning. 

Windows all wound down but offering us little relief.

My t-shirt was sticking to my body as if I had showered with it on.

I looked forward to arriving at the gig which I was pretty

sure was air-conditioned.

Not that I was looking forward to doing the gig, the gig

was one of those ''it pays the bill's'' gigs, but having traveled for hours,

 I was really hankering after an ice cold, tall, glass of fresh water.

The heat was so stifling that all of us had run out of the

energy to carry on a conversation.

We drove in silence, all of us grinning and baring it.

Mostly, the landscape that we drove through seemed to

be bush, more bush, some sugar cane and a whole lot of gum trees.

Occasionally we would pass a lonely and worn out petrol

station, stop and stock up on petrol and cold drinks, then

hit the road again.

Finally, we spotted our turn-off.

We turned on to the gravel road and in the distance we could

see the RSL (Returned and Service League of Australia/soldiers) club,

the venue where we were going to play.

We parked, unloaded our music equipment, and headed for the bar.

As I was standing at the bar downing one glass of ice-cold water 

after the other, an old man dressed in a khaki coloured uniform

came up to me and asked me if I wanted to buy a poppy badge.

'Sure', I said and handed him some money. 

As I pinned the poppy badge to my t-shirt, I asked him 

what the poppy signified. 

'The poppy is a symbol for soldiers fallen in war' he answered.

I have never experienced war, nor have I ever served as a soldier,

but as I looked into the eyes of the old soldier I felt

compelled to say 'Thank you for your service'.

Stage set and ready, we began to play to an audience full

of men and women in uniform. Some old, some young, some in wheel chairs,

some with missing limbs, and some with a far-away look in their eyes.

Suddenly, in the middle of our first set, everyone stopped what

they were doing. Bewildered I tapped the bass player on the

shoulder and asked what was going on.

'Sssh, it's the 11th month, 11th day, 11th hour....one minutes silence

for our fallen soldiers. Remembrance day, mate'.

I really have no words to describe the atmosphere that descended

on that venue at that moment, but it was palpable and unforgettable.

All heads bowed, all eyes closed, all still, and all somewhere else.

Somewhere else only accessible for each individual's personal memory.

Once the minute was up, everything went back to 'normal'.

We carried on with our 'show', people kept on laughing, drinking, 

joking, telling stories, ..... living.

''War is the greatest plague that can afflict humanity,

it destroys religion, it destroys states, it destroys families.

Any scourge is preferable to it''. (Martin Luther)

''War is the greatest harm that humans can inflict on humanity.

It destroys hope, it destroys faith, it destroys minds.

It destroys families, it destroys nature, it destroys animals,

it destroys whatever is alive.''

 (Citizen Z)

''War cannot be humanized. It can only be abolished.''

(Albert Einstein)

about the painting: Title: ''Poppies''

oil pastel on board