Remembrance Sunday

Today marks Remembrance Sunday, an important day to reflect upon the loss of life in warfare, tragedy, enslavement and suffering. The day is a formal reflection from the grave suffering of the world wars but today also calls for a thought to be had about war in more recent times. In the Roman Catholic Church too, November is the month of the holy souls where we recall and remember those close to us that have died and we pray for them. This is a poignant time for me especially. To pray for and remember loved ones who have died is a source of great consolation.

I would like to share a poem I was invited to have published in an anthology when I was fifteen. I hope it conveys the deep sadness I feel towards conflict, anxiety and the traumatic effects of warfare and though peaceful times seem few and far between, I hope that little waves of love can be found in the sea of chaos.

A Broken Soul-dier

Published in 'Whispers on the Breeze', (London: United Press Ltd), 2009.

Trudging daily through the undulating mud,
As another gun fires, a soldier loses blood.
I hear screams of ineffable pain,
To see young men trapped in this vicious game.
I see my friends suffer and writhe,
Relinquish, diabolical - how are we to survive?
I see another gun raised, and planes in the sky,
I let out another gentle, dismayed sigh.
My faith in mankind has disappeared,
The blood of innocent victims they have smeared.
I no longer wish to play a part in this act,
I wish to break this forged contract,
Between nations divided because of...what?
Who knows anymore? By now, we've all forgot
War is painful to endure and to face,
Can peace not be present among the human race?
A wound makes a scar and sometimes they heal,
But old wounds can tear your apart - they can unseal.
I want to stop it all now,
I truly would if you told me,
But the question is...how?

Picture Credit: 1st Ince and Elton Scouts, accessed 08/11/2015 via Google Images.