[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Neil Biographical ] [ Genealogy ] [ Family Stories ] [ Creative Writing ]

After a chance meeting with a friend at Flinders University just after the 50th anniversary of the landing at Normandy

We met, by chance, under a heavy sky

in the shadow of the Registry

a few days before the Solstice

and spoke of grey matters:

of faded ideals

and the thinning of optimism;

of deeds done in the shadows

and the sharp bite of the steel of betrayal;

of the beaches of Normandy

under the weight of shellfire

and life draining into the morning sea

a lifetime ago.

We stood close together

as we had at other times

when leaden griefs

had made us companions in our loneliness:

and for a moment the clouds parted,

the sun made a sharp edge of light and shade

and, warming our shoulders, made the day lighter.

© Neil Quintrell