A Pittance of Time
by Terry Kelly
They fought and some died for their homeland.
They fought and some died, now it's our land.
Look at his little child; there's no fear in her eyes.
Could he not show respect for other dads who have died?
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, may we never
Forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
God forgive me for wanting to strike him.
Give me strength so as not to be like him.
My heart pounds in my breast, fingers pressed to my lips,
My throat wants to fall out, my tongue barely resists.
But two minutes I will bide.
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest.
May we never forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
Read the letters and poems of the heroes at home.
They have casualties, battles, and fears of their own.
There's a price to be paid if you go, if you stay.
Freedom's fought for and won in numerous ways.
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls all over.
May we never forget, our young become vets.
At the end of the line,
It's a pittance of time.
It takes courage to fight in your own war.
It takes courage to fight someone else's war.
Our peacekeepers tell of their own living hell.
They bring hope to foreign lands that hate mongers can't kill.
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who go over.
In peacetime our best still don battle dress
And lay their lives on the line.
It's a pittance of time
In peace may they rest,
Lest we forget why they died,
Take a pittance of time.
They fought and some died, now it's our land.
Look at his little child; there's no fear in her eyes.
Could he not show respect for other dads who have died?
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest, may we never
Forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
God forgive me for wanting to strike him.
Give me strength so as not to be like him.
My heart pounds in my breast, fingers pressed to my lips,
My throat wants to fall out, my tongue barely resists.
But two minutes I will bide.
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who went over.
In peace may they rest.
May we never forget why they died.
It's a pittance of time.
Read the letters and poems of the heroes at home.
They have casualties, battles, and fears of their own.
There's a price to be paid if you go, if you stay.
Freedom's fought for and won in numerous ways.
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls all over.
May we never forget, our young become vets.
At the end of the line,
It's a pittance of time.
It takes courage to fight in your own war.
It takes courage to fight someone else's war.
Our peacekeepers tell of their own living hell.
They bring hope to foreign lands that hate mongers can't kill.
Take two minutes, would you mind?
It's a pittance of time,
For the boys and the girls who go over.
In peacetime our best still don battle dress
And lay their lives on the line.
It's a pittance of time
In peace may they rest,
Lest we forget why they died,
Take a pittance of time.
One post just was not enough in respect to Remembrance
Day, so I decided to write another one. As I kept re-reading my first post, I
realized there was more I wanted to address. When I began thinking of how I
wanted to start this second post, I remembered this song I had heard once, the
one above, A Pittance of Time. After
listening to the song and watching the video, I went to talk to my dad, which I
usually do not do voluntarily. I simply asked him, "On Remembrance Day,
did you stop working at 11 o'clock?" He responded, "No we didn't, we
should have, but we didn't." I wasn't surprised that he and his coworkers
hadn't stopped, they work in construction. Of course that’s not really an excuse,
but I understood why they kept working in some layering of reasoning. What I
was surprised with though, was that my dad didn't actually give me that excuse,
he just simply owned up to the fact that he and his coworkers kept working
through those two minutes. I thought he would have brushed it off, accuse me of
such an "obscure" idea. "Why would we ever stop working?" I
thought he would say. Despite the fact that I was impressed, the anecdote I
explained to you, further highlights the message in the song. It is only two
minutes, it is a pittance of time;
two minutes for a whole war our brave soldiers fought, for a lifetime of damage
and suffering for the families of soldier that couldn't take the pain any
longer. We are to stop at the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month,
for just two minutes, that's it, and some of us can't even do that.
Nadia, this is a very powerful posting. Thank you for sharing the video. It was extremely moving. I'd will share it with Mr. Zuccala for use next year on the video announcements. You also did a great job connecting it to your life. Super!
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