at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

I was patiently queuing to pay for my lunch

fresh pasta, sauce, broccoli spears

waiting in line at one of the cashiers

(there were just too many discouraging scenes

spilling around the self service machines)

when a voice said : ‘join us in a moment of remembrance’ 

and before she’d even finished the sentence

the lights started fading, the place fell quiet

and apart from coughing everyone was silent

I stared at the point of sale display

opposite me at the checkout today

ibuprofen, lip salve and handy wipes

for coping with cold related gripes

and I thought of a sappy line, as it goes:

we’re lucky it’s salve not salvos

then the lights flickered on, the noise came back

and my bougie lunch trundled off down the track

and I felt a bit cowed – The Somme, The Blitz

all that suffering and dying FOR THIS?