Killing Fields Poem by Marilyn Shepperson

Killing Fields

Rating: 4.4


The fighting is over, the battle is won
Overhead the crows are gathering
The dead lay like a grisly carpet
Those not dead groan or cry and pray softly
Worst of all is the heart rending whimpering
Of men knowing they are about to die and are afraid
The victors celebrate in the great hall
With drink and food in plenty
Raising glasses to the glorious dead
What's glorious about it?
The losers, in chains, sit bemused
Trying to work out where they went wrong
Exhausted horses in the stables
Stand with heads hanging low
To tired to eat, barely able to drink
But Man will always find an excuse to fight man
For freedom, for greed, for religion, for love, for land
And though those that have won are glad
Relieved to be alive to see this victory
Yet at this moment, the only true winners
Are the crows that are now descending.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Scarlett Treat 29 September 2006

Your depth of wisdom here is amazing, in that you have painted such a clear picture of who the real winners are in a battle, the crows. The contrast of the pain of those left dying and the victory celebration is just great. A MAJOR 10 from me!

4 0 Reply
Deci Hernandez 09 October 2012

What a great way to get us to see the way of wars. that crows are the winner. however. it is sad that wars are necessary.: (. even animals and all the earth hates war. but we must. because of the enemy.

2 0 Reply
Rafael Kumi 11 October 2012

great piece! Very expressive :)

2 0 Reply
Leslie Philibert 09 October 2013

Not bad...you may mean too tired, not to tired

2 0 Reply
Tiyler Durden 29 September 2006

WOW what an amazing picture this poem paint,10 for Tiyler, keep this up! !

2 0 Reply
Susan Williams 18 October 2015

powerful closing lines- well done images throughout

12 0 Reply
Gangadharan Nair Pulingat 09 October 2014

Love to the humanity is the underlined theme here and wars against the spirit of life and also dreadful. Great thoughts.

1 0 Reply
Marvin Brato 09 October 2013

Reality unveil in this write, thought provoking!

1 0 Reply
Liliana ~el 09 October 2013

Strong message; speaks truth; really engages reader and evokes them to visualize the situation word by word; sticking

2 0 Reply
Fiona Sandbrook 09 October 2013

Watch grammar and punctuation, but apart from that it's a very vivid and compelling read. I particularly like the last line. Thanks for sharing!

1 1 Reply
READ THIS POEM IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Close
Error Success