1914 to 1918 – A Poem to Remember

Leave behind your loved ones
With all the dreams you shared
(and when you write a letter home
Try not to show you’re scared.
Say “I’ll be home for Christmas
Just you wait and see
Then our parting will be over
And just a memory.”)

These men – our Nation’s pride
(and – they never stood alone
They had their wives right at their side
Who now sit home – alone.)
No man – from rich or poor
Escaped that knock that brought
Bad news to any door.
No men at home for dancing
Or romancing.
Nor to build tomorrow’s glory,
Robbed of every sweet life’s story.

They took their sons (and daughters too)
From every class – left just a few
To “keep the home fires burning” bright
And calm the children through the night.
These wives and sweethearts worked on farms;
Drove trains and buses without qualms
And kept the heels of “Blighty” turning
Whilst every heart must have been yearning
Just to live in Peace again
And stroll God’s Earth in summer rain..

Just one small spark lit the flame of War
No lessons from what’s gone before!
Oh Ferdinand – Duke Ferdinand
WHY did you have to die?
Reprisals were ten thousand fold
And we’re still wondering”why?”
(And Passchendale’s most infamous blunder
Booms down the century
Like rumbling thunder.)

Edna Sparkes

I took one day out of my life to write this poem about the First World War; the thousands and thousands of men and women I’m writing about gave up their lives in the belief that “henceforth man would live in peace” since it was known as “the War to end all Wars.”

HOW WE BETRAYED THEM!

OUR LOSS WAS MORE THAN WE COULD KNOW