Tags
Abandon hope!, aspic, belfry, bog cotton, Calvaries, church bells, Edwardian tennis, forced rhubarb, magnesium ribbon, MH17, Pandemonium, sandbags, shepherd's delight, sky burial, Somme, sunflower fields
Dusk in the balmy garden and church bells
ring changes from a mellow brick belfry,
clappers half-muffled by tumbling mill-race foam,
pealing the death toll we have heard tonight:
curious calm before the lightning strikes.
A century ago, lazy summer
solarised racquet-wielding Edwardians
in tolled moments, before magnesium fizzed,
immortalising ghosts on negatives,
preserving transient smiles, like forced rhubarb,
cloched; stiff attitudes in aspic.
Within a month, or so, haunted faces
would grin among stacked sandbags, before shells
shattered poppy fields and the bloom of youth.
This sky is roseate- shepherd’s delight.
Heat radiates from my garden wall and
the old house sighs. Swifts swoop, prelude to bats.
I go indoors to watch the latest news.
It shows some ravaged sunflower fields- a toy,
torn pages which a child has coloured in;
pixellated shapes amid fuselage.
Scavengers in balaclavas rifle
through a Pandemonium of small fires,
like unshocked devils, not so sick of sin.
Markers, like clouds of bog cotton, white flags,
or stars in a galaxy of hatred,
parody a kind of sky burial.
‘Abandon hope‘, I think, until I note
telegraph poles, like crosses standing firm
amid Man’s carnage, still Somme Calvaries.
A century, and yet we have not learned.
So true….
Thank you for reading it.
It’s unbelievable that anyone would shoot down an airliner, whoever it was.
And it is unbelievable that someone would have crucified Jesus Christ.
I am still struggling with this. It is the intent that I cannot fathom. Sheer wickedness. But I fear in another 100 years the same act will play out in a different way. We will indeed never learn.
Reblogged this on Content Catnip and commented:
I love this poem. This part of the world, so battle scarred and destroyed, seems to be compromised all over again in such tragic circumstances. Why is it that we want to rip each other to pieces? Hasn’t the human race come along some way since WWI, WWII, since the Cold War? When will we all learn how fragile, insignificant and impermanent we all are, and how impermanent this world is.
A beautiful blog candida, thanks for visiting mine and giving me the chance to discover you. This poem reflects what we all feel in this centenary year ~ what a waste ~ why are we still fighting? Have we learned nothing?
So poignant and beautiful…and so sad. Thanks for writing this.
Thank you for expressing your appreciation.
beautiful
Thank you.