For Wilfred Owen*

A war takes all, and equally,
Both poet-boys and farmer's sons;
It spares no thought for what might be
Beyond the blind, insistant guns.

Both poet-boys and farmer's sons,
With cheeks as rosy as the dawn,
Beyond the blind, insistant guns,
They drank up life, but now are gone.

With cheeks as rosy as the dawn,
A generation grew alone.
They drank up life, but now are gone
To reap the fear and hatred sown.

A generation grew alone-
For all our trials on their behalf-
To reap the fear and hatred sown,
To save us from our chosen path.

For all our trials on their behalf,
A war takes all, and equally;
To save us from our chosen path
It spares no thought for what might be.


--Megan Morris, meikundayo@yahoo.com


*Wilfred Owen was a British poet who began writing after  he was hospitalized by injuries sustained in World War I. After recovering, he returned to the battlefield, where he died. His poems are some of the best anti-war literature I have ever read. It is my opinion that he would have been very good indeed, had he lived long enough.