A sadness so deep cuts trenches across the heart
Like soldiers going over the top to do their part
Falling as though wheat was being harvested
Like leaves in puddles of mud blood and gore
A gladness at escaping the “greatness” of war
Widows and orphans lack the rejoicing
When their heroes visit them no more
They wait eagerly in case the news was too poor
“Someone’s made a mistake – he’s not dead,
I’ve heard him”.
Children huddle around the cooling fire and dream
Of fields with daddy as a kite skipped over streams
Of sailing matchstick yachts in puddles of rain
Of being scolded by him never to do it again.
But children’s play doesn’t compare when the fires rage
Tanks bellow their death gifts like dragons of a bygone age
Machine guns cackle metal chards into soft flesh
Where is the honour the fields of battle are enmeshed
With cries of agony, crying dying the odour of hell.
A sadness creeps in under the ribs nestles within
For when death rips your stomach the devil is let in
Searching for the remains of feeling and loving
Pawing at your memories trying to inject the poison
Widows live with a poverty of company and care
They see the world has shrunk and don’t even dare
To contemplate a time of laughter and gaiety
“Someone’s shot my beloved – so save a bullet for me”.
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Author:
Pete the Poet (Pseudonym) (
Offline) - Published: June 19th, 2025 13:17
- Comment from author about the poem: When I hear of wars in Ukraine, Africa, Middle East I am always reminded of the futility and waste of war. There is no glory in one set of humans destroying another set of humans.
- Category: Sociopolitical
- Views: 11
- Users favorite of this poem: sorenbarrett, Poetic Licence
Offline)
Comments3
A beautiful poem of a horrible travesty that is part of human history. Loved the internal rhyme and the feeling that came from this reminder of war's hell not just for those that died but for those that lived. I remember the words of a great grandfather that fought in the civil war of the US. After it was all over and asked what he thought he said (It was all a bunch of foolishness) a fave
Thank you for your considered comment
A beautifully written piece of the horrors of war, past and ongoing and destruction and devastation it causes for those who gave their life's and those that survived, at the end of it all what does it ever achieve, nothing, nicely expressed and written
thank you for interesting comment
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