Lest We Forget
I have seen them in many parts of the world.
From Scotland to Canada and the USA.
From France to Australia.
Each one rips at my soul.
But the saddest thing about War Memorials, strangely enough, is not the heart-breaking list of names of those who died in the obscenity that was World War I.
The Great War.
Yeah, right.
I do not dispute that the list is always far too long.
Of course it is.
Each one is a reminder of young, mostly working class men – sons, husbands, fathers – deprived of life, of communities destroyed for ever, all over our planet.
And yet.
Sadder still are the addenda.
Conflict after conflict.
War after war.
Decade after decade.
Name after name.
Life after life.
Nothing has changed.
Except that women are no longer excluded.
Nothing has been learned.
the cream of youth
again and again
preparing to die
*Title is from Robert Burns, Man was Made to Mourn (1784)
Sound Bite Fiction 
Reblogged this on anelephantcant and commented:
Four years later and things are perhaps even worse.
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Ripped at my soul too.. nice post
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Sorry.
Thank you.
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An excellent post my friend. You have summed it all up in this. It is more than annoying that people STILL go to war over things that they don’t need to. Where the leaders shove their noses where they don’t belong and follow it up with the lives of people they nothing about or care nothing about.
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Thanks, Al, nothing more to say.
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This is an impressive Peirce of writing. Your words definitely ring true.
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Thank you for your support.
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Tres émouvant mais en même temps on sent la frustration et la colère d’UnElephant que je connais si respectueux de toute vie.
On n’apprendra jamais
A vouloir s’écouter
A se tendre la main
En attendant demain
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Merci, cherie.
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I have lost many family members to different wars. I remember being in high school and Desert Storm began (not that it compares to the others) and my dad turned to me and said, every generation has to have its war because no one learns. Excellent post for today.
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Thank you, Anja.
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Lest we forget. During my childhood, every Remembrance Day we all went to lay poppies and wreathes with my Grandfather and his war comrades. Now days few people even know what the poppy stands for. It breaks my heart. When my Grandfather died ex-servicement one by one left a poppy on his coffin until it was covered under a blanket of red. It was incredibly moving. It seems to that war is simply motivated by greed not youthful idealism. I wish I could see an end to it.
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Everything you say is true.
Thank you for visiting.
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Always
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Beautifully expressed, the list of wars and the seemingly unlearnt lessons will always exist as long man remains greedy and ignorant to each other. Excellent post.
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Thank you, Michael.
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