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November 2009

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Paisley cross was packed today as Members of the Territorial Army, The Cadet forces along with other organisations laid poppy wreaths at Paisley Cenotaph “pictured here by Westender”.

November Flowers

By Allan Mitchell


the Call

& it’s November 1939 & from Inverness to Glasgow, we come in droves (by car, by bus, by train) to answer the call of our allies. & we leave behind our loved ones (sons, daughters, wives) to set foot on foreign shores & stand & fight for future freedom. & we band together (we men, we brothers, we fathers, we sons) & march toward the coastal docks & unite the British freedom force (infantry, artillery, auxiliary). & on the pier, a regiment piper’s lament echoes & echoes into the crisp coastal air. & the off-key droning wail pulsates harshly through the woodwinds & reefs, & through the ranks like the moaning cry of a dying breath. & the piper’s bag exhales & in rhythmic velvety wisps, it pulsates & pitches & squirms to the finger march of the chanter & “Amazing Grace” heaves out of each reed pipe. & the drone of the piper marches to the drone of the men & the drone of the ship & the drone of the war an ocean away. & from the chilly waters of the Clyde, we set sail for tomorrow with whistles & waves of good luck & goodbye & the hope of knowing that tomorrow will soon become yesterday. & I gaze across the great Atlantic divide and imagine marching & fighting & weeping & dying on the battlefields & beaches of a strange and distant shore.

Featuring Local singer / song writer from Paisley, Alan McKim. As anticipated, Alan is steadily progressing with a musical career…