Never Too Far

Never Too Far

I thought of you today
My uncle
Unknown to me
Reminded by a movie
Or mention of VE Day

Or something deeper
We Irish are a melancholy people
But not tight-knit
Otherwise we would have been to see you
Where you have waited all this time

All I had was code
7013959
Market Garden
21.09.44
19.A.13
Your service number
A callous cover name for chaos
An estimate of when you fell
Something to help us find your grave
But no-one ever went

Twenty five years old
My son is twenty seven
Beyond imagining
17^th September
Setting off on the Lion Route
Along Rhine riverside roads
Supposed to be a stroll
Your leader had packed his golf clubs

Cheered by civilians
Along the Oosterbeek Road
On into Arnhem and ambush
To fall with 1200 friends
One final message
‘Out of ammunition
God Save the King’
But no-one to save you

Quis separabit
Motto of the Royal Ulster Rifles
Who shall separate us?
We separate ourselves
Your resting place in Oosterbeek
Is beautiful
Less than a day from your home
No-one made the journey

Yet a Roll of Honour
In a church in Lincolnshire
Remembers you
Sergeant Sydney Power
2^nd Battalion
Parachute Regiment
Army Air Corps

We fight a different war today
VE celebrations will be muted
Perhaps they always should be
Out of respect
You were too young
When we win again
And we surely will
I will come to see you
You have waited long enough.