On the eleventh hour

Of the eleventh day

Of the eleventh month, 

1918, the guns fell silent.

World War One, 

The war to end all wars,

Was over.

Lest we forget, in Flanders fields,

The poppies grew blood red,

When Aussie boys, far from their homes,

Were number’d ’mongst the dead.

They came from farms where red gums grew,

From ’neath the Southern Cross;

No friendly sun, no magpie’s cry,

Would ever mark their loss.

In ev’ry town, in ev’ry park,

Their solemn statues stand.

Lest we forget those brave young men

Whose honour shaped our land. 

Every hen on earth says cluck
It’s always been that way,
and quack is all that any duck
could ever hope to say.
Roosters say a little more
with cock-a-doodle-doo”
but all you’ll hear from cows, for sure,
is just a simple moo.
Wouldn’t life have been a joke,
so utterly absurd
if all we humans ever spoke
was one shared earthling word.

Former ones failed and came undone
but through the years of World War One
a better form was patented
with little metal teeth that did
the jobs of buttons, hooks or grippers,
heralding the age of zippers!

Gideon Sundback, nineteen-thirteen,
designed the best zip the world had seen.
Used in uniforms and boots
by US military for their troops,
their popularity took a grip
as everyone liked that slip-sliding zip.

His Master’s Voice has gone

Dogs do not understand goodbye

He watches waits and grieves

Why do the women cry?

A War Dog has a focus

Love dictates the choice

The wailing shells surround him.

His world, His Master’s Voice

He did not care to understand

Why humans kill or play

Be it German, French or English

His Master’s Voice his day

Evading deadly Allied Bullets

On German Voice command

A precious load strapped to his back

He skims the mire of No Man’s Land

Blue runs with army orders now

There are no sheep or cattle

Blue only hears His Anzac’s Voice

Above the roar of battle

A Red Cross Dog saves lives

Aiding those who still draw breath

The Stretcher Bearer’s Voice

Braves the screaming stench of death

Flanders fields are still blood red

Killing is still glorified

Men and dogs are still at war

Will we ever turn the tide?

My cavoodle was very sad today,

She couldn’t go out and play.

I tried to explain

It was due to the rain,

But her face was full of dismay.