Lest we forget

I wrote the poem below on the evening of the IRA bombing of the Enniskillen Remembrance Service back in 1987. I recall being shocked to the bone and deeply upset at the news reports televised on the day. Its from a long time ago and is probably not how I'd word things now, but print it here just as I felt it then 27 years ago.

Enniskillen.

With their red paper poppies pinned in respectful black coats,
They laid their wreaths and sang their hymns
For shot down relatives and hopes.

Remembering the victims of the past
Not suspecting the enemies of the present
The memorial slips from being their to ours.

How clever to increase the count of petals whilst they fell
How callous to drench those fragile flowers in thick, warm blood.

This scene should find its way to some macabre stage
And as they leave the theatre, shuffling and silent,
They will wonder why Sympathy never got to play a part.

Perhaps too common a tragedy
Has hardened the Emerald heart.