Poem from heart of NZ teen to be read in Abbey

By ELIZABETH BINNING

As a 15-year-old school boy Mike Subritzky knew little of war but he knew enough to write a poem so moving that it will be read at a special Anzac Day service in Westminster Abbey.

On Sunday, after the Waikato man leads a parade of war veterans along Te Awamutu's main street, the words of his 38-year-old poem will echo through Britain's most famous abbey.

Every year the New Zealand and Australian High Commissions in London organise a commemorative Anzac Service at Westminster Abbey.

This year Mr Subritzky was asked if his poem Pastures Green could be used as one of two readings from New Zealand and Australian poets.

"I was deeply humbled," said Mr Subritzky, a former serviceman who has won awards for his poems, many of which were penned in between gunfire on his 13 tours of duty.

A nun at his primary school introduced Mr Subritzky to poetry.

Pastures Green was part of a high school assignment, written after the announcement that New Zealand would contribute troops to the Vietnam War.

Mr Subritzky is one of only two men in the country to have served in the three Services.

He joined the Navy at 17, then joined the Army, where he worked for 20 years. In 1985 he spent two years with the Air Force as an instructor.

The 53-year-old is now an active member of the Te Awamutu RSA and this week has been out selling poppies.

Mr Subritzky has led the local Anzac Day parades for the past 10 years.

He said it was exciting to have his poem read out in such a special abbey, a place where many famous writers and poets, including Charles Dickens, are buried.

Pastures Green will be printed in the Order of Service and read by Lord Freyberg, a member of the House of Lords.

The exclusive ticket-only service, led by the Dean of Westminster, will follow a wreath-laying ceremony in London.

Pastures Green

Pastures green, poppy fields,

graves for soldiers fallen.

A wooden cross marks a resting place,

a thousand miles from loved ones.

Rusted wire, silent guns,

trenches torn and broken.

A helmet rests on a rifle butt,

the tools of war unspoken.

Anzac Days, colours blaze,

their battle honours borne on.

Old men march and a bugle plays,

in memory of the fallen.


- Mike Subritzky, 1965

(Written after the announcement by Keith Holyoake that New Zealand would contribute troops to the Vietnam War).

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