THE SEEDS OF PEACE

Cherry

By Linda Wigzell Cress

Thu, 24 Apr 2014
  • 9580 reads
22 comments
 

In ancient times sweet flowers grew

White as the snow, fresh as the dew;

They wove them into garlands then

For maids to wear on long fair hair when

Barefoot they walked through misty woods

And promised to keep faith, be good

To bridegrooms in the morning air

Before the priestess standing where

With gnarled green branches arched above

They vowed their everlasting love.

 

Years passed; the flowers bloomed again

But blushed to see the sins of men

Who lied and cheated, hurt and slew

Any thing, or beast, or person who

Dared to gainsay their opinion

Or rail against their cruel dominion.

Now pink-flushed as those maids of old

In leafy shawls, those blooms grew bold

And scattered ripe seeds far and wide,

No longer felt the need to hide.

 

A cold wind blew across the land –

The flowers tried to understand

What was this smoke, this noise, this fire

That reeked of death, and the funeral pyre?

That banged and cracked; the awful sound

Of pain and chaos all around?

Heads bent in sorrow, they could only sigh

As they watched a generation die

And as they saw each sad day dawning

Their seeds turned black, as if in mourning.

 

One hundred years have passed, and still

They thrive in cornfields, and on hills

Where once the earth was stained blood red

Stiff with the bones of the glorious dead

And the cold air echoed with the noise

Of Lewis guns, and dying boys.

No longer pink, nor white as milk

But clad in robes of crimson silk

Brave poppies grow for evermore

Lest we forget the price of war.

 

 

 

Certificate U
Poem
POETRY
Spiritual
Historical Fiction

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

Hi Linda.

This is beautiful and really moving. 

Bee

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Thanks Bee, I am glad you liked it.  This is such an emotive subject.

Linda

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

I liked this very much, Linda, and you bring out gently many aspects of the tragedy, and the sacrifice, the causes, and the sadness. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

This is such a vast and desperately sad theme, I am really glad you caught the mood Rhiannon.

Linda

Submitted by The royster on

HI Linda,  Brilliantly put together. Now I can see why I don't get too many pieces out there. Lovely words and very emotive.  Royx

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Thanks Roy.  I don't know if you remember my lovely Grandad, he was a Colour Sergeant in WW1.  Lucky for me he survived!  And no excuses from you, get something in this competition!

Linda

Submitted by The royster on

What Competition Linda??  Have I missed a link somewhere.   Better go look.

I have entered a comp here in Fenland. The topic is Cup of Tea.  I'll e-mail you and would appreciate your comments.

  

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

You really must pay attention young Royster. Go to the Home page and read Luke's call for entries to the '100 years on' comp.  Good luck!

Linda

Submitted by The royster on

OOps,  As usual, Must pay more attention. Haha.  Thanks Linda x

 

 

Submitted by Starfish Girl on

Beautifully expressed, with such a gentle opening and such an emotive  ending.

Lindy

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Hi Lindy.  I am glad you liked this poem, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

Linda

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

Linda this is brilliant. So much here, so many themes progressing and linking together, from the land with the flowers and the priestess, the sins of men, war and finally the enduring beauty of the poppies.     Elsie

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Thanks Elsie.  I am pleased you appreciated this, it's such a full subject to address, so many threads.

Linda

Submitted by celticman on

It's hard to say you liked a poem about war, but it's about much more. It's about humanity.

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Thanks for reading and commenting Celtcman. You are so right. And God help humanity.

Linda

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on

Hi again Linda,

don't know how I missed this poem...I think it's stunning and sums up so many situations.

You've excelled yourself and it must have been a hard slog to come up with all the magnificent rhythm and rhymn.

Well done on this one and I would cherry it if it was me...but I'll give you a big thumbs up instead.  yes

Hope you are well and had a good easter.

Jenny.

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Hi Jenny, thanks for the nice comments!  Cherries are not awarded on competition entries until after the event, but I am very grateful for your thumbs up!!  We had a couple of days in Portsmouth for Easter, a nice rest.  Hope yours was good too.

Linda

Submitted by well-wisher on

I loved this. Is this a competition entry? Definitely a winner in my opinion. I really liked how it tied the First World War to an ancient, on going tradition of war and masculine violence and your descriptions of nature in the poem are very beautiful and contrast really well with the more aggressive imagery. I'm so glad that I read this poem.

Oh look, a link. I wonder where it leads.

JoHn

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Hi well-wisher.  Yes this is for the competition, and I am so glad you liked it.  It's such an emotional subject, thanks for reading and commenting.

Linda

Submitted by Denzella on

For me too.  A Winner!  Fantastic piece Linda.  If only after the war it proved to be a fantastic peace but it was not long before they were at it again.

This is a really strong entry so I look forward to the results.

Moya

 

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Kind thoughts Moya, thanks.   All I can say about war and peace, is, pretty much as well-wisher said above, in the words of my school motto

'Amor Vincit Omnia'.    (Love conquers all things)

 

Linda

Submitted by Linda Wigzell Cress on

Thanks for the cherries editors, much appreciated!

Linda