Anthem for a Doomed Youth

The guns are still sounding.

 

 

Eighty years between us, and,

We both seem to understand

That, if fate lays down a deadly bet,

We become their marionettes

Dancing in tune to their orders

That divide and split our crumbled borders.

 

No chiming bells for our immersive fate.

For us, no flaming hells or pearly gates.

Just the sound of greats and guns and rhyme,

That echo unjust from another time.

The blood still spills ‘til the streets run red

And yet guns, not poppies, grow instead.

 

More generations of doomed youth,

Angry, betrayed and uncouth.

Enact a sordid victory parade through my streets

Whose roads are trampled by angry feet.

You and I pick up a pen

And never put it down again.

I wonder,

What you thought the future would bring?

A cease to war, an eternal spring?

Alas, our  battles are a tad different, yes,

But fallen friends still don’t rest

It seems that wherever trumpets sound

Both you and I spring up from solid ground.

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

A poem to Wilfred Owen in repsonse to his poem 'Anthem for a Doomed Youth'. We're doing him as part of WW1 Poets in English. I really liked his poems. Incidentally, 'Anthem' wasn't one of my favorites of his. But its the one he's most remembered by. So I guess this is for you, Owen.

Reviews

[Celtic Cat]

Wow. You are a gifted writer and a pleasure to read. I love how you wrote this piece, it was very captivating. The imagery.....oh you're so good at imagery.... it's so sad that our world has become a battle ground, but I guess it always was. Only now we can sit a million miles away and press a button instead of hand to hand combat. I think that makes us cowards, but they call it progress. Progress my a*s. If we want a better world, I swear we should just blow this one up and start over.

There were so many great lines in here, let me see if I can pick out my favorites or if I'll end up pasting the whole poem....yeah, it would be. I'm bowing down to your mad skills! Love you girl....never put your pen down indeed!!!

[Jack E.]

What a fantastic piece of writing. I'm not going to repeat what everyone has already noted about the great imagery and compelling structure, but I will say that I love the way it FEELS like you wrote it. As if, through your words, I could imagine you feeling torn between both the life and hope of an 'eternal spring' and the bloody, lifeless war of an winter unending. Teen/wartime angst is always a popular and rather drab topic but I love seeing new life injected into it. But to repeat myself... this was a fantastic piece.

[Eagle Cruagh]

Interesting, exquisite and profound.
A poem that will stand as a classic for years.
The person who brought this poem to the table
has wisdom of the ages and the gift of incredible talent.
My favorite !
---- Eagle Cruagh

[Tomás Ó C..]

This is brilliant, however, as opposed to war, the gangland is a culture people actually choose...

[Celtic Cat]

gah... I didn't rate... hopefully it will let me now...

[Philosophile. (Maddy)]

This was an awesome poem. I really liked it. I felt that I could see myself in it, as I grab a pen with some unreachable goal in mind, trying to say my own soul if I have one. I could really relate to the poem.