generally speaking

narrative verse

 

 

 

Generally Speaking

 

 

The guns fall silent and the dead

lie quietly they’ve played their part.

The night hour’s pass heavy with dread

 at first light the big guns will start.

 

The sound of the artillery

 will fill the silent skies again.

Eroding further bravery

 of the war weary fighting men.

 

The brave young men on either side

 are doomed to die face down in mud.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

 Their dug outs do but little good.

 

A shell burst may not kill just maim

The lucky ones are those who die,

they are the winners in this game

 when thick and fast the bullets fly.

 

Opposing sides move to and fro

to capture trenches they’ve just left.

For no good reason that they know

 obeying orders quite bereft

 

of any sign of sanity.

The generals are safe behind the lines

Unlike the vast majority

 who fight to fulfil their designs.

 

Lions by donkeys badly led

Young men by the thousand died.

A foreign field their final bed

because good sense was not applied.

 

In Flanders fields the poppies grow.

The soil enriched by their hearts blood

What have we learnt we did not know?

 Nobody won Nobody could.

 

There are no winners none at all

 except perhaps the carrion crows

They dine well when the soldiers fall

as mighty nations come to blows.

 

Survivors return home broken men

with small support and little praise.

Until they’re needed once again

 when countries their new armies raise.

 

Another war to end all wars.

We do not learn from history

For men can always find a cause.

Why this should be a mystery.

 

18-Feb-08

Reviews

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This is wonderful - "What have we learnt we did not know?
Nobody won Nobody could." Why don't they figure it out? Nice writing. Pammy.