If Old Men Fought
by Mac McGovern
An old man, looking out his door,
gaze fixed on a distant shore,
reminiscing to a time, not of happiness,
or, the prospect of a bright future in store,
to when he was sick to his very core,
to when as a youth, he went to war
A time before infallibility had meaning,
patriotism and bravado the fashion,
the future still a quandary,
zest for life, at an all-time high,
a time for romance, partying, buying,
no thought of pain, deformity, dying
Too young, to understand or question,
ship to foreign shore, medals abound,
sacrifice not temporary,
forever more,
a legacy etched into a wall,
few will remember,
flesh shredded, burned, torn,
families mourn
A time, when he willingly went to war,
will happen no more,
all lost in youth, now conscientious,
no blind obedience,
minimal risk,
long life, his number one endeavor
As he turns back from the door,
he thinks of the youth,
here now, soon no more,
lessons never learned,
the call to war,
to common the roar,
complacency the mood,
another generation removed
The old man laments
over what was
originally not known,
war is preventable,
life too precious to waste,
the solution simple,
his vision, maybe too late
Send old men, to the front to fight,
arthritis, heart disease, poor eyesight,
let the youth enjoy their life,
his near over, it is only right
Send old men, to the front to fight,
ask them, to give up their life,
patriotism and bravado, still right,
will and desire, will not last the night,
old men do not rush to death, in their twilight,
failure inevitable, the old man smiles,
knows he is right
Wars not possible,
if old men, are sent to fight
End of the poem
15 random poems
- A Tale of the Sea by William Topaz McGonagall
- Владимир Солоухин – У моря
- To a Western Boy. by Walt Whitman
- The Travelling Bear poem – Amy Lowell poems | Poems and Poetry
- Song—O can ye Labour Lea? by Robert Burns
- A Jewish Cemetery In Germany by Yehuda Amichai
- My Soviet Passport by Vladimir Mayakovsky
- Sonnet CLIV by William Shakespeare
- Holy Communion
- Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns
- God Has Pity On Kindergarten Children by Yehuda Amichai
- Only Thee by Rabindranath Tagore
- Come, Rest in this Bosom by Thomas Moore
- Омар Хайям – Если гурия страстно целует в уста
- Валерий Брюсов – Из-за облака скользящий
Some external links:
Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US
Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at least for Europe
Yandex – the Russian search engine (it’s probably the best search engine for image searches).
