Front Line

Welcome to World's End

Front Line

 

Night-time has fallen over the dug out

Passages of Earth and watery soil

Above crying can be heard, an odd shout

As Bullets strike and men hit with recoil.

 

Writing my sonnet by candlelight for

Loves that are blitzed across the border

Words of promise and propaganda lore

Before being made to stand to order.

 

My song is sung for a different place

Away from the distorted and twisted smile

Of the cruel frontline’s ugly leering face

Stretching for over many a mile

 

Dead and crippled bodies are carried to be

Flung in a shallow pit too small for the masses

Made more difficult because we could only just see

by candle light, and Firebombs' noisy thunder flashes

 

As Corporals call out to both undistinguishable Yanks

And us limeys, and everyone else, we all politely chatter

Clamouring up into the mouths of monstrous tanks

Laughing uneasily watching the enemy dart and scatter

 

We pretend not to retch as we cross the surface a-strewn

With bodies of both us and them, crushed and bloody limbs

Visible by the pale light of an ashamed, horrified full moon

Shivering over screams as a wounded Irish soldier sings:’

 

‘We'll sing a song, a soldier's song, 
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng, 
The starry heavens o'er us...’

 

To fight knowing your hearts and your souls are

The same as the innocent misled young German lad

Crouching near you, amongst the mud and the stench, not far,

Innocent as everyone in that proximity, makes one sad

 

I hate you, Hitler, for corrupting mind and changing the fate

Of young and unsuspecting blind lambs to the slaughter

Only for after death, for you to then reincarnate,

Into more fascists with your sociopathic laughter

 

But here I am at world’s end to warn

You of the manipulators the future will see

Have the courage to face the endless storm

Keep human spirit alive

                   and never let it cease to be.

Author's Note

Another war poem, this one more recent, hoorah!
I guess the reason I write about war and things because, as someone who's family is pretty much touched by war all the time, being part Iraqi and having grandparents who were in the service, I feel I have to understand it. I doubt I ever will.

Reviews

[Sarah]

I loved reading this poem, the imagery was fantastic (I think you captured the dark, gruesome aspects of war quite realistically) & your use of enjambment (sp?) made all your lines flow very well. I love how the poem is so fast-paced, making it sound as though you really were delivering an urgent warning to the future. Very well written, good job! ^_^

[revolution9]

This was an amazing read. The descriptions were so vivid. Every line had conviction, every word meant something. Nothing is missing and nothing needs to be added - all of your thoughts are accounted for. I loved this.

[An owl on the moon]

You have created another brilliantly vivid piece, full of both the horror and the under chaos of war... Your words speak to any and every generation, each in succession feeling the pain... Powerful!

Craig

[Constance]

This flowed nicely until the end, where the change actually seemed to bring emphasis, so didn't hurt a thing. I like the longer stanzas, how artfully the flow into the scheme of the shorter ones.
How can we understand what makes war become declared, as we aren't the declarers of war? Ah, and I'm glad we don't understand. I remember when I was in High School, trying to understand serial killers, because it seemed so foreign to me. I read page after page, book after book. There were no answers that could make me understand... and then I realized that perhaps, with some things, to not quite understand the how and why is a gift. War is that way, as well.
Lovely work, Emily.

[Celtic Cat]

Between the pic and the words and the personal responsibility all strewn about on this page...I just can't seperate one lovely thing from the next. It's a dark topic, yes, but it's our reality. The coming of the end is near (let me get on my sandwich board and find a street corner) as it must be, since you're right, Hitler never died, he just rematerialized. In fact....did they ever find his body??
In a recent conversation I was comparing Pres. Bush with Hitler. The only difference being that Hitler had half a brain. He was a smart fella, although admittedly warped. But that's where he came from. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a Nazi or a wanna be, but there was Hitler the man before there was Hitler the dictator. Is there a difference between what Hitler did to Jewish people and what Bush is doing all over the world? We have our "camps"......always under fire for torture...oh, I'm sorry....ALLEGED torture.
I'm sorry. Again, too much about what this piece made me think and not enough about the piece itself. I've been robbing you, sorry.
I love this piece because it sounds as if it was written by someone who experienced it first hand, so you definitely have some grasp of understanding. I stopped watching all war movies many years ago because my heart couldn't take the hurt of the truth of war.
This poem is great. Keep writing, you've definitely got the knack for it. I love the ending the best. Keep it alive.....keep it alive.

[Carole]

Wow-Emily...this is a very sobering write. Eye opening for sure. You have a definite gift of expression. Your word choices are brilliant. You have painted the brutal picture of war as it is. These things need to be said.
Thank you for sharing....War is gruesome. I wish for peace, but the world from the very beginning of time, has been accustomed to war over something. Sad, but true. Carole XO

[Mistral Bilgera]

fascinating war poetry! i loved the ending, how you summed it up, especially! Reminds me of Randall Jarrell, for his insightful poems about war. :)
very good imagery, very moving! ever wonderful.

[WordMaster]

Putting your feelings down on paper is what writing is all about
If war is your focus, then so be it.

You presented a very clear imagine of the sadness of war

Well written� try writing about the other side of war!

[Liam]

This was amazing, very powerful. I love "'We'll sing a song, a soldier's song,
With cheering rousing chorus,
As round our blazing fires we throng,
The starry heavens o'er us...""
and the ending.
Well done!

[PianoandPage]

a very well constructed poem. it's rare to find an "abab" rhyming poem here that has good pacing and is consistant without becoming robotic or contrived.

i think you started off very strong and at the end it kind of tapered off... but still overall a very engaging poem.

i especially like the irish song that breaks the poem into the two parts. nice.

war is ugly. we are all innocents. and we are all guilty. tis indeed a paradox.

[Orlando Murcia]

I enjoyed it very much, and dont you wish there were no wars, great job sweetie!