Armistice

Armistice, armistice, peace at last
Have you learned to love those leaves of glass?
Or do you long for softer things, like liberty in the harbour
That call to stretch your arms farther, farther
Do you even have what it takes? To leave those sheets of snow?
Leave your boys on a mountain’s edge, say ‘last one, time to go’
Or snacks half-finished in blue television light
A mother’s bed, ’till next time, goodbye, goodnight.’

Armistice, armistice, why must you go over?
Are the wonders of the world worth growing that much older?
Those radiant fields, cast in gold and white
won’t never be the same if you feign an intermittent life
Why’d you choose to leave that early-morning glow?
Bitter cold seeping through a stuck-open window
Your brothers, your blood, so much to live for
But a mere whistle in no-man’s-land — you want more, more, more.

Do you remember the last best day of your life?

No, I do it because I long to see another sunset
On Spanish Banks or English Bay, or a Kitsilano sublet
Like Berninger says: heirs to the glimmering world
Your city, your people, yours to call home
To you, I owe my life, my struggle, my freedom
You give me strength to keep my dreams alive
You make the loss worth it, you let me start anew
Dare I say I love you? You taught me that, too.

Armistice, armistice, home at last
The pining never ceased, but the guilt has passed.
Snow is falling on the living and the dead
And then there’s clarity, there’s hope, nothing left unsaid.
On an early Mainland morning, one like all the rest
You dared me to struggle, hold fast in the west
So I will hold you all close in the Granville Street cold
One last dance, our last dance
Rest easy, boys, we’re home.