Trophy: Poem For a Soldier

Trophy: Poem for a soldier

Twenty-three years and counting.

Memories of lost comrades
pile like three-foot-deep tomes
dusty and stacked on that mantlepiece
over there.

And in the courtyard
like red pimentos hung out
to dry in the sun
medals of honour
swing suspended from strings
tenuous as spiderwebs.

Your greatest treasure
hidden from my curious gaze
lies in place of pride
in the loft
behind the gramaphone Papa gave you
in another life.