Riding on horses
those pale, pinched faces
in times where
one year became ten
in the lines on their haggard faces.
The hard battlefield
opened her hesitant fingers
letting the blood swim through
lending a futile hand
to separate the souls
falling from horses.
Heady array
of blue and gray.
Now the misty war ground
calls beyond the existence of man.
Do we hold these truths
as dearly as we should?
Do we truly honor the dead?
Make amends for our greed?
Universal truths wrapped in
bullet swirl.
What do we leave here now
as we perish from this earth?
And do we ever learn?
That is truly the question, after years and years and years of war. Never solves anything 🙁
You wrote this beautifully. It is such a sensitive and emotional topic to some. I dislike war and our inability to live in Peace. Yet, I have a rather patriotic post planned for Memorial Day. Almost feel like a fake, Lana.
Thanks Robin. No, don’t take it in a negative light for those who serve and have served their country. I had ancestors who fought on both sides of the Civil War including a father and a son who fought on opposing sides, can you imagine? My father and uncle served in the Navy in WWII. Instead, this focus is the heartbreak of war. I wish we could live in a world without war.
I felt the mothers’ and nurses’ anguish in this poem. I did sense your expression of honor, but also the travail of war.
It would be hard to imagine having two members of a family on two sides of the Civil War.
I do remember about your grandmother’s loss of her son, your uncle. My grandpa served before WWII started, but still came back with changes, including grand mal seizures. My Dad’s father never left the veterans convalescent home in Cincinnati and Dad took responsibility at age 11, to start earning money in KY, where there were no child labor laws.
I also wish we could live in peace, Lana. It seems my friends and I sang so many peace folk ballads.
I agree, the soldiers who fight should get respect. Thank you for reminding me why it is okay to be patriotic, Lana. 🙂
Yes indeed Robin. If only people could communicate. I think we all really want the same things and focus on the world as the big picture as I previously also mentioned in a poem, lol. Happy early Memorial Day, xo.
Very thought provoking.
Last week was an Abraham Lincoln wrap-up in high school social studies….
Ah, that explains it!
the poem honors the fallen, but it also questions whether their sacrifices were worth it. my favorite lines: “Universal truths wrapped in/
bullet swirl.” that’s some fine writing.
Thank you so much! I am so glad you liked it 🙂
you write beautiful, quietly powerful poems
Thanks so much for the wonderful compliment!
Wow. Powerful poem and so sad that we continue the legacy of war through the millennia.
Yes it is sad, maybe, just maybe, someday we will learn. xoxo
Hey 🙂
I just discovered your blog and your posts are so beautiful, especially the poems! 😀
Keep on writing!
Thank you. I’m so glad you ran across my blog 😀
Me too 😉
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