commons.wikipedia.com
Military Command issues decrees.
The boots go marching, one, two, three.
The fresh-cheeked lads, all in a row,
on return won't be the lads we know.
Mothers and wives will try to heal,
no way to know how their men feel.
The things they've seen, they cannot say,
they'll carry till their final day.
no way to know how their men feel.
The things they've seen, they cannot say,
they'll carry till their final day.
There isn't a mother on this earth
who thinks the cost of war is worth
the price their loved ones have to pay;
wish we could find a better way.
To those who served, my deep respect,
they knew not what they could expect.
That faraway look in their eyes
is what war made them realize.
The boots go marching, one, two, three,
war knows no other way to be,
more fresh-faced lads for the War Machine.
Of peace, mothers will always dream.
war knows no other way to be,
more fresh-faced lads for the War Machine.
Of peace, mothers will always dream.
My uncle served in the RAF in WWII. He was a princely man, gallant, with great class, and a sensitive, romantic soul. His eyes had that faraway look, and he would never - ever - talk about what he saw in war.
Lyrically realized, Sherry. these truths that are so hard to say in a way that also honors the effort and time the young ones put in as they are changed by war and military aggression. What does it take to be able to kill a person, a child, a family? How can we help with the healing and the on-going-ness of the machine? I am not a mother, but I join in the dream as well as support for the vets.
ReplyDeleteYour words ring true Sherry. If only there could be complete peace. Maybe in a perfect world. Not the world we know. This is a beautiful tribute for all soldiers and their families.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the most we can hope for is to create a pause in which people might think and see more clearly. You have certainly done that here, my friend,
ReplyDeleteElizabeth
A fitting tribute to our special heroes day, Remembrance Day ~ The cost of war is just too great to bear ~
ReplyDeleteGreat poem Sherry. My nephew's been to Iraq 4 times. Aside from his PTSD, no one knows anything about how he confronted war. He never speaks of it.
ReplyDeleteA wonderful Veterans Day poem, Sherry. Yes indeed, Mothers will always continue to dream. May their dreams come to pass......
ReplyDeletewell done
ReplyDeleteALOHA from Honolulu
ComfortSpiral
=^..^= . <3 . >< } } (°>
"The fresh-cheeked lads, all in a row,
ReplyDeleteon return won't be the lads we know."
Truth can be so very sad...