That's a sweet, sweet bugle I said,
and a real bugler too he was,
not some cheating cornet player -
a soft lingering farewell from the soul,
spirit notes soaring into bush clad hills,
and echoing back on hilltop graveyard,
where lies Jack Tai.

The bugle says it all Jack, sweeter by far
than the unspoken words we form -
offering poppies where bamboo leaves
might say it better - struggling to say
the unsayable, for soldiers anyway -
Me and Glunk, George and Davy too -
for our mate Jack Tai.

So the bugle says it all, old friend,
after the rippling crackle of rifles,
of past lives long time gone,
the bugle's lament lays gently down
a carpet of soldierly love, sweetly woven
across the top of a hilltop graveyard,
where lies Jack Tai.

© May 2001, Ross Nepia Himona

http://www.iwvpa.net

It is with great honor that I announce, on behalf of the IWVPA Board of Trustees, that your moving works of poetry have been the focus for consideration for the “IWVPA Bronze Helmet Top Poet Award for Excellence” for August 2001.  After due deliberation, it is with great pride we bestow the honour upon one that touched us with great feeling, "Sweet Bugle for Jack".

Congratulations Ross, for your most elegant and thought provoking works, exemplified by this poem.  Indeed, choosing one poem over the others of your outstanding body of work was a most daunting chore.  Thank you for sharing your gift and moving insights with us:

Anthony W. Pahl
IWVPA Award Co-Ordinator.