The war wasted men,
the trench souls
and minds
puppeteer'd from above
by moustachioed children.
Rapacious rats
crawled over dead
zombies of patriotism
and thoughtless death,
as they enriched the soil with blood.
And the glory of death is remembered.
The warmth of sacrifice cherished.
For the good of peace
death was refereed by God
who was on both sides,
helping poppies to grow;
orange spotted with black.
One for each man:
dried blood stains
on the face of a gas attack,
picked in bunches
and held in a virginal hand.
And the glory of death is remembered.
The warmth of sacrifice cherished.
The original version of this poem was written by myself in the 80's, but my ageing hubris (in 2025) makes me think this version is more concise. Please forgive me if you disagree.
Version 2
The war wasted men,
the trench souls and minds
herded from above
by moustachioed children.
Rapacious rats
ate dead zombies of patriotism
and thoughtless death,
who enriched soil with their blood.
Yet the glory of death is remembered
and the warmth of sacrifice cherished.
For the good of no-one
death was ignored by God,
who merely helped poppies to grow,
orange, spotted with black.
For each man a Poppy,
reminders of dried blood
on the face of a gas attack,
picked in bunches to die again.
Yet the glory of death is remembered
and the warmth of sacrifice cherished.
WAR Warfare FIGHTING Armed Conflict WW1
Trench LAURENCEAUX England LAURENCEAU Lawrenceaux LAWRENCEAU Laureanceaux LAURANCEAU Lawranceaux LAWRANCEAU Loranceaux LORANCEAU Lorranceaux LORRANCEAU POETRY Prose POEMS Social Comments HUMOUR Humerous SMILE Smiling LAUGH Laughing LAFF Laffing CYNICAL Truism TRUISMS Welcome HULL Kingston-Upon-Hull Kingston Upon Hull KINGSTON-ON-HULL Kingston On Hull YORKSHIRE East Yorkshire HUMBERSIDE Yorkshire DEPRESSION ThisISUll FED-UP Pissed-Off LONELY Disgruntled DISSOLUSIONED Blue BLACK Thinking BLOG Blogger LYONEL
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