Do you remember where
Those young men died?
Do you remember how long
Their mothers and wives cried?
What were they thinking
Amidst the flowers and the soil?
Can you number their tears
For the fallen loyal?
What were those lads thinking
As they drew their final breath?
As their vision faded into blood
And they were met by steely death?
Why were they there
Amidst the blood and debris?
What were the last words
Silenced by blades and disease?
Where they thinking of freedom
Flags and eagles and stars on high?
I think not—they were desperately afraid
As the earth or the waters swallowed them, they wanted to cry
Because they would never see
Again those that they left behind
All sorry swirling images of memory
In the chaos of a dying mind
They knew that this world is broken
And that they were trapped—unescaping
They did not want the honors or the flags
They wanted to hold their wife, their child—home returning
Rest now poor and sorrowing souls
We will remember you for the good you have done
And may we never forget that
You died and Their war is won
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem