David Keig (1951 / UK)

I rewrote a previous poem of mine......

Brave buildings built in honour of
The ones they left behind
With thoughts still whole unspoken
Of a sentimental kind
Of the men who go to war without
Any question of deceit
The ones that die on battlefields
And of serious disease.

For though some wars are over
And many battles lost
These buildings tower over us
So we can count the cost
Lest we forget our fallen men
So shall we every night
Remember those who held their flag
And thought their fight was right.

There's a strangeness now about the world
That’s making this all seem
Like so many leaden soldiers
Just a'marching in our dreams
But though this now is commonplace
And although we hate all war
Those human boyhood soldiers
Are still dying as before.

Why do we all go through this
Time and time again
Why do we fight our politics
With the bodies of brave men
For there's a truth that lies amongst the dead
Both infidel and blessed
And they are clearly asking us
Why we can't put war to rest.

Lest we forget war's horrors
And lest we forget the pain
Then every single bloody war
Will be repeated once again.