Repatriation
He stood in the darkness of the C-130’s hold
Time seemed to have stopped, a minute so slow
Waiting in the silence for the men outside to go
They’d come dressed to honour their friends
Standing to attention to give that last salute
To the fallen in coffins draped with union flags
He watched the Union Jack lowered to the ground
He stood to attention and listened to the padre’s words
He’d watched men stood stiff, heard the bugle blow
Holding themselves together for that final show
Each coffin carried into the planes steel hot hold
The ramp raised that silent blackness once more.
It was that ground that we fell, he fell and he stayed
It’s that ground, that sandy soil and the dried out dust
That fills your eyes, your ears, nose, socks and boots
Fills the deep heart of you, your spirit and your soul
It never leaves wherever you are, wherever you go
It’s the darkness, the memories, the joy and the loss.
It is the brightness of that dawn, that sky, our hopes
It never leaves wherever you are, wherever we go.
RAC
