Requiem for the Living

Dedicated to my fellow veterans who fought in the Borneo wars 1962-1966


And as they stand hymn book in hand

Around memorial stone

Each part of the congregation

Yet each of them alone



Each holding poignant memories

Of comrades they once  knew

Their own unique experience

Memories clear and true



Theirs was just a small war

No charging in great mass

But creeping around from tree to tree

Or wading through morass



Their bodies hung with leeches

Watching out for snakes

Where a man can die from mosquito fly

Or the simplest of mistakes



Of sleeping on a jungle floor

In the monsoon rain

Of wondering will he ever

Get back home again



And then the short sharp action

All over very fast

But the screams still haunt their dreams

And will until the last



They are just the old men now

Bright eyed but weak of frame

Who were never hailed as heroes,

Who never courted fame



Who fought for what they thought was right

And willingly they went forth

To simply fight for freedom

And all that freedom’s worth