Every Friday, Lily Childs launches a weekly writing challenge using three words she selects at random; participants are invited to create prose or poetry up to a wordcount of 100.
This time last year the word-prompts were: Admonish, Percussion, and Belong. They inspired a piece of free verse that focuses more on WW1, but I hope you'll forgive me reprising it here, on this special day, as a tribute to ALL the fallen.
IN MEMORIUM
Fearful.
Admonished by those who thought themselves their betters.
Seeking a last breath of freedom from their squalid trench they rose,
Sacrificing themselves to shrill whistles and cries
And then the staccato percussion that charted their rapid demise as over the top they went,
Pouring like ants from a nest,
Seeing a new horizon, briefly, before lead and shrapnel marked their bodies,
In daubs of crimson.
Now, here, in fields to which only the valiant can belong,
Remain those daubs of poppy-red
Fluttering in the breeze.
Remembrances to the long-ago dead.
Nice. Thank you. How anyone can glorify war I don't know. It's just such a waste. It's not as though the wars ever resolve any problems for more than a few years. You'd think we brilliant humans would have figured out by now that there is a better way.
ReplyDeleteHi SueH, returning your visit. 'Pouring like ants from a nest' reminds me of the old newsreel images - men running to their death. Great imagery. So sad. Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Sue .. Love the poppy picture .. and your words expressed so well for long-ago dead ..
ReplyDeleteRememberance weekend ... thank you - Hilary