Click here to hear the writer read his words:
The Great Peace
The pain surprises me.
The rain falls steadily, but it is not the cause of the pain.
The wind blows briskly, but it is not the cause of the pain.
I look around the small cemetery, one out of around 940 in France and Belgium.
It is the cause of my pain.
It contains the graves of 1,262 British, 4 Canadian and 29 German soldiers and airmen.
There is no segregation by rank or nationality, and each grave is immaculately tended.
They are arranged in chronological order of death.
Think about that, just for a moment.
The peace is in sharp contrast to those bloody days over just 100 years ago.
The days when this part of Northern France was the world’s battlefield, bringing men from all parts of the planet to die here.
The Great War.
I almost smile at the oxymoron.
But find I cannot.
Because of the tears in my eyes and the lump in my throat.
the great war they said
was the war to end all wars
flowers grow in tears
Late coming to read & comment. And yes, great war is a contradiction. As the song goes “When will we ever learn? When will we eh-ver learn?
All that has changed, Liz, is that we now allow women to be killed on the front line too. I guess that’s what’s called ‘progress’.
Maybe as fair and balanced as war ever gets, eh? 😟
… flowers grow in tears…
😭
A war to end all wars. If only.
A poignant piece indeed, CE
Indeed, my friend.
Thank you.
Very, very moving…
These cemeteries get inside you, Chris.
‘flowers grow in tears’ – and still we never learn.
But I won’t give up believing our Bard:
‘ It’s coming yet, for a’ that,
That man to man, the warld o’er,
Shall brothers be for a’ that.’
The power and the pain in your words…
Thanks, Jenne, I wish I shared your optimism.
This is an amazingly insight filled piece. No segregation- no lessons learned- and it continues to play out on repeat year in year out all around the world – what the hell is great about any of that? brilliant!
Thanks, Jodi. The war cemeteries here in France would break your heart. But we don’t learn.