The Wars That Men Have Fought

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Tags:
  • Death
    • ,
  • Love
    • ,
  • War

    Poem Commentary

    This one is a villanelle, sort of inspired by reading W.H. Auden. When I wrote it I was thinking of my Aunt Clarice, who lost her husband in the Normandy Invasion.

    The Wars That Men Have Fought
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.
    I mourn your loss and all those wasted years.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    Can never bring you back, nor make it so
    That I can be a stranger to my tears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.  
     
    Though life will course along in ebb and flow, 
    Because your light was lost the sting adheres.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    The sacrifices made in mud and snow,
    Can never bring an end to human fears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.  
     
    Perhaps someday the spring will bloom and grow,
    And soldiers put away their swords and spears.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    Can't staunch the memories of long ago,
    Or ease the hurt that never disappears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go,
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.
    I mourn your loss and all those wasted years.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    Can never bring you back, nor make it so
    That I can be a stranger to my tears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.  
     
    Though life will course along in ebb and flow, 
    Because your light was lost the sting adheres.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    The sacrifices made in mud and snow,
    Can never bring an end to human fears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go.  
     
    Perhaps someday the spring will bloom and grow,
    And soldiers put away their swords and spears.
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though,  
     
    Can't staunch the memories of long ago,
    Nor ease the hurt that never disappears.
    My love, accursed, will never let me go,
    The wars that men have fought for causes, though.

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    If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.

    Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet.

    gmcookie’s Poems (186)

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