Thank You

• Georgia Ryan, Grade 7, St Paul's High School -
• Poetry
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

Standing in the dark.
As the sun rose, I could see flickers of gold.
A single figure stands alone from the crowd.
His medals reflected in dawn’s rising light.
Reflection. Recollection. Lost in thought.
Memories buried away, of horrors we will never know.
Terror and fear. Not much older than me.
Friends died along the way, in an effort to save the day.
On battlefields that bear their blood. Innocence, forever gone.
A land so different. A land not home. A land not free.
Can he know how proud we are, of the sacrifice that left a scar?
The bugle plays. He moves away. I run to him. What can I say?
Gratitude I can never repay. A Nation’s pride I want to convey.
Alone together, he looks at me. “Thank you” is all I say.
He smiles at me and turns to leave.
Then I realise, he did it all for me.