T h e R e m e m b r a n c e r s
and it’s difficult to say exactly
what they do, or
how useful that task really is
for like the ideal rulers
of ancient China,
the better they do their job,
the less we notice that
you could say, they are
remembrancers:
they hold memories for millions of people:
they remember people, good people, poor people,
and honour them as we should wish to honour them;
they remember heroes and the dead;
they remember history; and how
things used to be done, when they were done well;
it is their duty, over a whole lifetime,
to remember what is so deep in all our hearts
that we have forgotten that we know it;
that we could hardly express it;
yet, as those stories of every nation tell,
as King Arthur is said to arise from the sleeping soul
in times of need – this is what they remember for us;
they remember what it means to be a nation
when others have forgotten
but as they have no executive power
they can only advise and consent
when asked
they draw to themselves, good and wise people
who help them to remember
to remember for the rest of us
and such is the mystery of what they really do
that we laugh about their private lives
over our morning newspapers
while they set out for another day
full of official engagements
of being seen to remember something
and we remember having seen them
and how we waved our flags and gave them flowers
but may or may not sense
what they remember for us
and as they move around,
in and out of cars and sometimes planes each day
receiving flowers from children awed by the moment,
[...] Read more
poem by Michael Shepherd
Added by Poetry Lover
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