11:11:11

Today, 11:11:11 is particularly resonant for many reasons for me. Not only is it the third night of the full moon, not only has a great asteroid now left our orbit, and not only is it remembrance day, but it is the 11th of November 2011.It will not be the 11/11/11 for another one hundred years.

i was greeted by this poem on my news feed today, which i found to be rather simple and touching. Remembrance day is resonant every year, but what with the weeks events expressed in my last post "antlers"
I feel that the synchorinicity of these events is evermore resonant.


Here is the poem that follows:


Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.


Upon the final words of the last stanza.i pondered remembrance, and not forgetting. What are we without our memories? Do our memories make us entirely what we are. The passing on of knowledge from generation to generation is probably one of the most prominent acts we can ever engage in. Much is lost, when this does not happen.


If you can do me a favour readers, not mattering what time zone you are in, not mattering what time of day it is, or who you are, you are somebody's son or daughter. Somewhere along the line your ancestors have passed down the knowledge you have been given and learned from. Somewhere along the line between then and now, somebody has given their life whether it be on the battlefield, whether it be on the world stage or whether it be a devoted period of time for the betterment of humanity in the pursuit of peace. I ask this: what do we owe them?

The answer can be as simple and great as you need it to be. But in its simple and purest form, we need to honour the need for remembrance. Without acknowledging the acts of our forefather and mothers, the future holds no value. For their to be a journey and a destination, there must be a path behind us.

Lest we forget.

Remember them.