Mark Pirie

poet - writer - editor - publisher

Wait till the war is over
And we're both a little older - Jim Morrison

'It's all over for the unknown soldier,'
sang Morrison, almost 40 years ago.

Back then they were fighting a different war,
but to me it was the same old song.

80 years on, when they brought home from
France our very own 'unknown warrior', and paraded

him through the streets, I was reminded
of that song and the way it was performed - as theatre.

After the bullet, Jim would play dead. He was trying to awaken
people to the realities and open their doors of perception,

the way those doors are never opened, simply
by parade in gun carriage and funeral oration - the

honourable act of 'national pride'. During a war, it's
those at home who are hit the hardest; it's never over, for some.

Wellington 11 November 2004, Armistice Day