The Silent Front Poem by Emeka GOC

The Silent Front

The world must understand
The people must remember
That when the real war came
When the storm duly arrived
When the fiery storm, the consuming storm arrived

A sudden force springs in place
When masks hid the warmth of human face
The monster moved on silent breath
A swift, invisible march of death
The wards grew dark with heavy sighs
Behind the glass, the parting eyes

There were no soldiers, no big black boots
Neither were no the royal navy plying boots
Plying and ferrying the beautiful ships
The joyride boats over the water RIBs
Veterans were protected in-house arrest
While the air forces were grounded
Displaced made redundant, use- arrest

No hands to hold, no final grace
A sterile, distant, lonely space
The mourning bell rang out unheard
For funerals lacked a parting word
The rows of graves, the nameless grief
A weeping world without relief,

There was another army, yes a great army
Rather underpaid, unseen and disregarded
Unprotected, uncared for by statue and laws
An army, not even granted the honour of a pistol
The most resilient Healthcare Workers/ team.

The unsung brave in scrubs and tears
Stood firm against the rising fears.
The gears of time ground to a halt
As nature bared a silent fault.
The laughter ceased in crowded squares
Empty classrooms, vacant chairs.

As our society began to heal
someone introduced clapping offering
We prefer to explore a specific tribute
To this particular group of frontline workers
They endured an exhausting shifts.

The resilience greater the great war
First, second and this was the third war
Lead and won by healthcare workers
They rebuilt the world by a nudge
Then…..,

The world rebuilt itself after the lockdown ended
A generation paused its steps in strides,
With playgrounds locked and youth denied
The world we knew was swept away
In one long, dark, collective day