At the furthermost top of Garn Fawr
are the ruins of a lookout post from the war
a corner of bricks on a volcanic outcrop
capped with a carved concrete block:

J J W Calderon
Commander RN
D J W Edwardes
Deputy CWRN

Odd, his name should be Calderon
which has certain volcanic connotations
in a landscape made by the same
like the fires that forged the rock forged his name

Anyway – the graffiti is all very properly done
conveying the important information
surname, rank and service
carved so carefully into the surface

But the war burned out as all wars do
and no one cares who saluted who
except for the lookout’s Calderon and Edwardes
status cemented for the records

Standing now at their crumbling post
staring out along the wave-flecked coast
I wish those guys had flung their caps from the edge
and carved a couple of cormorants instead