Those who gave their lives in the course of freedom were perhaps ill served by those who sent them on their way.

There are those who go to war and those who send them.

War is not a field of flowers, but the folly of mankind and mans inhumanity.


Poppy Fields Remembered

There they stand, proud and straight as a field of corn,
Not for them the sights and sounds of battle.
Pin stripes rather than the weather worn Khaki they scorn,
Sensitive ears have never heared a dying mans rattle.

Closely guarded, the easy life, with easy pickings of Pinner,
Cosmopolitan and blind to the needs of those they order.
Not for them the sacrifice behind a Sopwiths spinner,
Eyes that never witnessed mankind's folly in mindless slaughter.

Rolled umbrellas did they take to deflect that unfortunate rain,
The 8.30 to Euston may be late again, more troops on the move?
They never see exposed, beneath a riddled helmet, an exposed brain,
Unaware of the smells of trench life, carbolic acid, cordite and blood.

The folly of war identifies those who are sacrificed by those who rule.
Wrapped in the flag of patriotic fervour were they sent to fight a 'just'war.
Those who send men to their death may be regarded as cruel and callous,
That cruelty never registered the sights that others saw.

Many would have told of the horror but never did.

The young officer shedding tears as his men fell before a machine gun rattle,
The sergeant shouting encouragement to trembling soldiers,
The nurse in the dressing station waiting for the next influx of casualties,
The 'conchy' objector risking his life as a stretcher bearer,
The mother of three sons sacrificed in the Somme mud.

We still ask why?











Poetry by Sid Gardner
Read 852 times
Written on 2014-11-14 at 03:15

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Ivan R
This hits too well. The world without war is not due yet, sadly enough, therefore the importance of well thought out and well written anti-war commentary is as important as it will ever be as long as the sickness of war exists .. great write, just great.

" I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in. " George McGovern.
2014-11-15



Thank you for writing this. There used to be a lot of poetry about the horror of war (Wilfred Owen comes to mind) but you don't see many these days--and we need it now as much as we did then. 'Many would have told of the horror but never did.' Indeed, war is not a poppy field.
2014-11-14