For week fifty-two we are honouring Remembrance Day with Six Years and a Day.
Some historians cite that WW II lasted Six Years and a Day. Precise or not the title felt right so here lay the genesis for creating this song and video.
Joy and I gathered archival photos of Canadian soldiers along with family photos scattered throughout the visual to compliment the text.
Growing up in Canada, in a small town most everyone lost a loved one or friend in the ’great’ wars of the 20th century, it was part of the fabric of all our lives.
War touches us all, the sacrifices that these women and men endured will always live on in our hearts and memory; they’re beyond heroic.
‘Six Years And A Day’ is a humble token of our love and appreciation.
This week’s prose is called Season’s End, it’s from my collection Horizon. It celebrates the north country during the most beautiful time of the year - late Fall.
Fredrick Brooks - Vocals/Acoustic Guitar/Bass
Jeff Bracket - Electric Guitar
Joy Brooks and Katherine McKenzie - Harmonies
>Click here to watch video of Six Years And A Day>
SIX YEARS AND A DAY
Seven winters broken - still the river sleeps
Seven years of heartache - and a million souls still weep
Chorus
Upon their sorrow
Upon their joy
A bitter shade may fall
Yet the veil is weak
Their lantern burns and shines on…
A boy on the beaches - wears his Father’s sweater
A child in the trenches - carries his Mama’s heart
Chorus
Mother draws the fire - lays her body down
She’d walked through the dark
Until her night had turned to song
Chorus x2
(c) Fredrick Brooks 2010
LCI(L)-299 is most famous for its action on June 6, 1944 (D-Day). Assigned to the 2nd Canadian LCI Flotilla (Royal Navy Flotilla 262), it transported troops from the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders to the invasion beaches at Juno Beach
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SEASON’S END
Thanksgiving
Again, I’m off to the North
Soon, I’ll pass the great forests
The Precambrian rock and the deep blue lakes.
With the weight of Autumn upon us
The margins of winter draw near
The loons have left in migration
The quiet lakeside is sublime
Hypnotic.
It’s here I find the circle of life most present
The silence breathes
The great forest
Welcomes
©Fredrick Brooks