Light at the End of the Century
I sense you in the shards Of November twilight Cascading across from Ypres Another day set to rest When I feel your monologue In dulcet tones Proffering your gratitude To we lions led by donkeys For our bravery, for our courage In an ecstasy of fighting Though horror of laying down lives By me and my comrades From all over the Empire Across many oceans To the futility of the Great War A conflict bellicose Too obscure, too confusing To mortals like us Enlisted and conscripted Carried into heinous conflict To a war to end all wars Battles to be remembered, for We were due home by Christmas If not before I believe you when you cry Of the carnage, the travesty As we lie here in front of you Near twelve thousand young men Taken on Passchendaele ridge Now next cottages of Tyne A microcosm of the millions Gone well before our time Yet I no longer smell cordite No longer ingest mustard agent No longer feel pain, then You must have achieved peace In our time In your time too When cruelty to brothers, to sisters Has been eradicated Vanquished from our globe Though your shake of the head In despair, in realisation Suggests that the folly Of the Great War has been lost On politicians of power Those embers of great men As I wander through your psyche To domains I don’t know Where conflict is constant In life beyond horizons To mortals like us While I wonder if you’re my descendent And if not Why you care With history casting shadows Over years following on For a century has passed And your friends were our foes Then I sense your departure After November twilight In the direction of Ypres And another site ticked. Dedicated to the brave sons of the British Commonwealth taken during the Great War of 1914-18 and buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery in Flanders Alun Robert Born in Scotland of Irish lineage, Alun Robert is a prolific creator of lyrical verse achieving success in poetry competitions in Europe and North America. His poems have featured in international literary magazines, anthologies and on the web. He is particularly inspired by ekphrastic challenges.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
The Ekphrastic Review
COOKIES/PRIVACY
This site uses cookies to deliver your best navigation experience this time and next. Continuing here means you consent to cookies. Thank you. Join us on Facebook:
November 2024
|