The Last Parade is Forever

By Ōtepoti He Puna Auaha | Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature | Posted: Saturday Apr 25, 2026

On Anzac Day — a day to pause and remember those who served and those who never returned — we share this image and poem by Annie Villiers, reflecting on the Allied Cemetery at Suda Bay, Crete: a place of quiet remembrance far from home.

The Last Parade is Forever

Allied Cemetery Suda Bay, Crete

Stones stand in rows a tribute

to the aesthetic satisfaction

of geometry. Order belies

the chaos represented or perhaps

is necessary to restore the balance

They are the forgotten ones.

Known unto God engraved

on the stones. Heroes invariably

become growing things. They call

across the water as we leave clear

as if they still have mortal voices

Take us home. Don’t forget us! The boat

slips away in twilight, into darkness

Stones gleam in the distance

outstaring the blue ocean

outstaring me as I stand on

the deserted deck. Outstaring

everything except the longing

and their own immortal grief