Killers All?

narrative verse

 

Killers All?

 

Now bugle boy what do you blow

Your trumpet pressed to your dead lips

I sound recall to let them know

this is the end of their hardships

 

They came as boys but died like men

From factories farms and mean back streets

They will not see their homes again

The brave young men whom death defeats.

 

They answered to their country’s call

And donned their Khaki battle dress

And shipped to France where they would fall

by thousands in the wilderness .

 

Created by the shot and shell

turning the battlefield to mud.

Which drowned young soldiers where they fell

and drenched the earth with their hearts blood.

 

Now poppies blow in Flanders fields’

The soil enriched by dead men bones

which has increased the harvest yields.

The poppies act as their headstones.

 

So many died and were not found

their fate unknown, No man could say

Their bodies melded with the ground

but we remember still to day.

 

The slaughter and the sacrifice

The useless waste of human lives.

They were prepared to pay the price.

Though a small band of them survives.

 

Each passing year their numbers fall

Old age more sure than shot and shell.

Soon there will be none at all

who endured that living hell.

 

The war to end all wars they said

You will be home by Christmas tide

Instead of that most would be dead.

Involuntary suicide.

 

We honour those who bravely died

a generation of young men.

The best of breed on either side.

But still we go to war again.

 

The world has never been at peace

since the war to end all wars.

I don’t believe that wars will cease

as long as there are warriors.

 

Who think they can enforce their will

on other men by force of arms.

It seems that killing is a skill

Which can seduce men with its charms.

 

16-May-08

 

http://blog.myspace.com./poeticpiers

 

Reviews

[Jason]

Terrific write for those that fight for our country. Great job.

[Angel's Lady]

that killing is a skill
Which can seduce men with its charms

What powerful words you have written here! And what a great tribute to our fallen, unsung heroes...

A salute to you then, sir, since I cannot salute them! Great write!

[Thad Presley]

Good Tribute to all those who sacrifice, even today.

[Legion]

Great piece. Just in time for Memorial Day. Well worded with a great message. Kudos.