KANE

• Tom North, Grade 9
• Poetry
• 2012

KANE by Tom North
Grace Lutheran Collage,Year 9, age: 13, 17 Seaside Drive, Banksia Beach
I look around and all I see are posters of the war,
I never knew that very soon I'd hear knocking on my door.
When it came -an awful dread- the strapping man had come,
So I said goodbye to my Dad, and, saddest of all, my Mum.
I had my bag, my bible, courage, pencil and my pride,
They didn't know about my age as I had actually lied.
I reflected on my training, how I handled it with ease,
While standing here in the pouring rain, shivering at the knees.

Bullets fly past at a phenomenal pace, hitting the man behind me,
He falls and whispers in my ear, "please give my love to Kylie".
I then reach down to get his tags hanging from a chain,
I read the engraved metal plaque; but all it is "Kane".
A few years pass when suddenly, I hear the static radio,
The war is done; It's finally over, and now It's time to go.

As the H.M.A.S. Koopa creeps slowly into the bay,
I realise while I'm standing there, I don't know what to say.
A girl is waiting on the shore; waiting full of glee,
I know that this is Kylie, so I tell her what Kane told me.
Now on the twenty fifth of April, we hold a minute silence,
Reflect, and say a silent prayer, for those who stopped the violence.