“The War to end all wars” – we said, and we lied
Not knowing how many children would be sacrificed to die
”The War to end all wars” – we did plead!
Oh, how our nations would suffer and bleed
“The Great War” it was named; oh, the blood that was spilt
The tides of the future did turn, tumble, and tilt
How many graves shall be dug?
How many fatherless daughters born?
How many white crosses with flowers between?
How many of Earth’s families shredded and torn?
How many of our youth lost to the glory of death?
How many shall we send below at the Devil’s behest?
One hundred years has now past since the fateful start
When the world numbered its wars – and war became an art
For what masterpiece can be painted on the canvass of death?
What soul can be saved from a bullet, a bomb; A dying last breath
How many wars shall be fought to end the next war?
How many souls lost to a cause that was sworn?
How many fatherless sons shall seek an early grave?
How many of our children chained – death’s slave
How many lost to another War global?
How many shall cry – Oh! A death so noble!
Oh how my heart yearns for those that have life
The freedom they enjoy, blood in their veins
Not in the ground, they are alive
And I pray now before God that they may never know
Where many brothers lay and where the poppies grow
But that they observe, humbly, that they show
Respect for all the fallen – row upon row
In noble battle – For King and Country!
They hold no Hades debt;
May their souls be brought to heaven’s gate on high
Yearly shall we stand – the cenotaph – For eternity
Lest We Forget
A call for peace? Nay, this is not
The freedom we have today with blood was bought
But for peace I do pray that the wars may finally end
The grass no longer green, the earth no longer brown
The sky no longer blue, the Sun – it rises red,
Over fields of dying brothers and graves of forgotten dead
May, 15th, 2014
Bryce Casavant