100 Years On

The story of a fierce conflict
that is one hundred years old,
and was fought in foreign lands,
will be told and then retold.

The whole world will unite
to remember the centennial
and the memory of that war
in our hearts will be perennial.

We have all read of the losses
at the Somme and Passendale
where, on crimson battlefields,
ensued carnage on grand scale.

We shall hear anew the tales
of slow advances and retreats,
of courage and white feathers,
of brave victories and defeats.

Bodies fell and blood was spilled,
the war raged on every front.
As tanks rolled, guns were fired
from the Isonzo to Hellespont. 

With the hostilities finally over
everyone had to take stock
and acknowledge the sad reality
of the pain caused by shell shock.

Those for whom the bell tolled
lie at rest in permanent peace
but survivors who suffered hell
only hope the torment ceases.

© Luigi Pagano 2014