Established in 2006 to encourage youth reflection on Remembrance Day The Cameron Cathcart Youth Poem of Remembrance Award is an annual poetry competition for youth in the Vancouver area. This year, I am proud to say that Hansona Wang, a youth I have mentored for the past two years is its recipient!
Hansona will read her poem on live television as part of Vancouver’s Remembrance Day Ceremony as well as receive a $250 prize and a framed certificate from Vancouver’s mayor. Hansona has a knack for storytelling and her poem, below, captures the longing and emptiness of loss. It calls us all to, “share stories, to mourn, to grieve and to not be afraid” … so that the memories of those who have gone before us will never fade.
Dear Papa
By: Hansona Wang
Dear Papa, it’s me, Alaine,
I hope even in heaven you have not forgotten my name.
I still write to you daily, though Mama says I shouldn’t,
Though she hasn’t moved on either, she’s sworn she wouldn’t.
Dear Papa, we’ve had to move away,
Though I would beg, plead, whimper and pray.
But my pleading was pointless and undiscovered,
The house that you built could not be recovered.
The memories of you and our lovely home,
Can now only be captured in a poem.
But don’t fret Papa, I still have your letters,
About your time in the trenches, canned stew, and checkers.
But your letters were also dark and scary,
About how many friends you had to bury.
The misery, the cold, the hurt you endured,
So our peaceful sleep could be ensured.
We acknowledge your pain and all your sacrifice,
Just so we wouldn’t have to pay the price.
And we applaud you, the whole country has,
For you, your bravery, and your fallen comrades.
Dear Papa, as I stand here in the field where you were buried,
I weep for you, and the pain that you carried.
I place a poppy on your grave, a symbol of sacrifice,
I clasp my hands and say a prayer, in fact, I say it twice
Dear Papa, oh how I miss you so.
I know you died the most noble of deaths,
I will think of you forever, until my very last breaths.
So my dear Papa, this is why we remember,
This is why I stand here on a cold day in November.
I urge myself to share your story, to mourn, to grieve, and to not be afraid,
So that the memories of soldiers like you… may never fade.