Veterans Breakfast Meet

There‘ll be black humour today, Gentle ribbing, banter and jokes, Stripping away of egos, repartee Among our mixed group of folks. Bruising conversations maybe, But in a non malicious way. No place for the thin skinned That’s just not how we play. It’s the way it’s done from First moment of greeting It’s our irregularly held Veteran’s Breakfast meeting. Just a couple of hours Of banter forces style Carrying each back For just a little while To much younger times From a very different past When each passing day Could have been the last Some of us are damaged But none of us are broken Some carry hurt in their eyes From experience unspoken. Some have seen combat Still carry mental scars From frontline service in The country’s various wars Some fought with a rifle One fought with a pen Each gave part of their life As an active serviceman The Padre’s not a Veteran But we’ve known him years He’s earned out respect as he’s listened to our hopes and fears A range of ages gathered For a morale boosting talk, We’ve all worn the uniform We’ve all walked the walk There are common experiences That each of us have had, We’ve been there for each other In the good times and the bad. It’s a meeting of brothers And we all know what to expect, Ruthless character assassination But with affection and respect. We’ll all be looking forward to, Though not knowing when, We’ll receive our invitation To meet up and yarn again. We’ll shake hands goodbye Making the occasion complete Feeling emotional benefit from Our irregular breakfast meet. .