Remember This

We rightfully honour the fallen during remembrance, but at what cost to the hopes and memory of humanity?

What would the world remember had it not been for war?

Suffragette’s?

Civil rights?

Uprisings of the low and poor?

 

Are our hopes suppressed beneath the debt?

Incurred by those who gain?

They say,

“Remember sacrifice and pain!”

(“Then you’ll be sure to do it all over again”)

Subtexts aren’t heard

When the message is blurred

Beneath the heavy heart

Once absurd words

Now make hearts stir

And this is how the conflict starts

 

While it is right and wise to honour those

That fell on battlefields

When, put in a different context

Treachery is revealed

War coincides with social plight

And overpopulation

With demands made on resources

And the power play of nations

Good people die to colonise

And commandeer wealth and land

Conscripts and volunteers alike

Perish on demand

While history is concealed beneath

The carnage and the glory

Where kindred lives, together died

For someone else’s story

Author's Note

I'm anticipating some negativity to this write, but this is not intended as an affront to those who have fought and died for their country. On the contrary, this is an attack on the self-interested ruling classes who create conflict around the world to ensure they always remain in control.