ARMISTICE?

We are about to remember the centenary of the first war. What have we learned?

Armistice?

the eleventh hour 

the eleventh day

the eleventh month

1918

the last bullet fired

the final shell exploded

the final bomb dropped

the last gas released

the war to end all wars ended

 

soldiers on both sides 

sons, brothers, fathers, husbands

rose from their trenches

put aside rifles and helmets

stood as brothers in the low sun, 

marveled at the silence,

listened to the birds rejoicing

pondered the meaning of it all

 

out of the silence came a voice, 

then another and another

speaking in all the tongues of the earth

voices from the future calling,

sons, daughters, grandchildren, yet to be

from the beaches of Dunkirk and Normandy

the cellars of Dresden, 

the gas chambers of Auschwitz

the markets of Hiroshima, 

the foxholes of Korea

the paddy fields of Viet Nam, 

the jungles of Congo

the killing fields of Cambodia,

the charnel houses of Rwanda

the villages of Iraq, 

the cities of Syria

a babel of voices, speaking as one

the message clear

IT WAS ALL IN VAIN!

 

Reviews

[angel]

Exactly what the entire protest scene in the sixties was trying to say.
Sadly, it seems, sometimes, that as long as people insist upon giving in to greed and prejudice, there will be war.
I know a guy who says wars are natural, good for population control.
I just can't be so...whatever he is. Anyone got a word? All I can think of is the life left behind by those killed to satisfy the emotions of their "leaders", or to satisfy their land lust.
The native people here say that you cannot own things that are eternal, like land, rocks,etc.
Yet people fight each other for wealth or real estate all the time. Very sad.
On the bright side, you wrote of it well, Alan!

[alanwgraham]

Thanks Angel. I have struggled to get my head straight on how we remember the dead and how we relate it to Bob Dylan's 'masters of war'. On thing is sure I don't think the common man would chose war.
Thanks for your great views on this.
Regards,
Alan

[angel]

Don't mention it, Alan. I am also a huge Dylan fan...his lyrics are to folk music what Lennon/McCartney are to pop/rock.

[Lorry]

All in vain indeed Alan. I have been tuning into to five live radio and for weeks they have been telling the stories of ordinary people who lived and died through this hellish war. One fact above all others stood out for me and it wasnt the millions of lives lost or the terrible destruction. It was simply this, that on the final day, which everyone knew would be the last, 11000 were still killed on that final day. If that doesnt show how in vain it was, then theres sometging wrong with us all.
your words convey so simply, the futility of it all, with the countless, ictims and the countless families they would never see again.
We should all remember.

[John the Baptist]

Very nice to see someone remembering WWI, one of mankind's bloodiest conflicts. I liked the way the poem connected it to subsequent wars. We had a chance for a better future but we blew it at Versailles. Well done.