White Feather

White Feather

He was only sixteen

When she handed him a white feather

Not yet in uniform

Trudging through the wet winter weather

He was tall for his age

When she shamed him with a white feather

He enlisted that day

Took his mate and signed up together

He was shamed and disgraced

By the symbol of the white feather

Duty bound by gender 

Condemned to be a youth forever

He was sent to The Front

And in his pack was that white feather 

Fought like a man possessed

With the guns going hell for leather

He was dead within months

Red blood spilled across that white feather

A sea of mud and wire

Ties to home and family severed

She stands in hell I hope

Holding out that same stained white feather

A futile surrender 

Peace purchased on the never-never

Jennifer Pickup 9/11/22 at 9.11pm