BATTLE CRIES

The hopeless eyes
and tear stained horror
of a fragile, far-away gaze.
Where once, a sweet
and happy child dwelt,
till the innocence of life was erased.

The tears have dried up,
cried out with the pain
on battered beseeching hands.
Just sitting, bereft,
in the remains of a life;
in the dust of desolate lands.

Never will a smile
grace the frozen faces
of those who have seen so much grief.
The laughter and joy
lie dead and buried,
their moments so tragically brief.

Childhood cut short
and a long life so alone,
no longer afraid the bombs.
Just vacant resignation
of all that will be;
a lament for a life now long gone.

It breaks my heart
and claws at my soul
to see the haunted gaze of a child.
Staring from the rubble
of streets they once played,
where death and destruction run wild.

Will we ever see an end
to the horrors of war;
to the blood and the loss
in its wake.

To see once again
sweet confident smiles,
replace frowns

and terror

and hate?



*
Written by Darren Scanlon, 7th October 2015.
© 2015 Darren Scanlon. All rights reserved.