I lament the loss of peace in our time
Stolen, destroyed, blown up on a whim
The new generation of despots craves
The last generation turn in their graves
Craves wealth and power and influence
Acting without thought or sense
No thought at all of how to behave
The last generation turn in their graves
I lament the loss of knowing what’s true
Endless fact checking we must do
Block our ears to he who raves
The last generation turn in their graves
Nothing around us now seems safe
When dogs of war at their leads chafe
Bully boys beat up on the brave
The last generation turn in their graves
I lament their sacrifice laid waste
Blood and death’s most bitter taste
But given for to freedom save
The last generation turn in their graves
Two wars supposed to end all wars
(Bar those in places far, of course)
The sacrifice of those lost brave
The last generation turn in their graves
I lament their struggle was in vain
As fascists come around again
Ask will Democracy be saved
The last generation turn in their graves
To be remembered as the best not worst
In reality, they’ll be roundly cursed
Become the very byword for a knave
The last generation turn in their graves
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Grace in Poetry Forms, invites us to write a Lament using roughly the form:
- stanzaic, written in any number of quatrains.
- metered, often iambic or trochaic tetrameter.
- rhymed, rhyme scheme: aabB ccbB ddbB etc. B being a refrain
Your lament for lost efforts of a generation resonated with me, Andrew. I often feel as if they have been forgotten, are not even thought of by the current generation. The repeated line is hard-hitting, as are the lines:
‘Craves wealth and power and influence
Acting without thought or sense
No thought at all of how to behave’
and
‘When dogs of war at their leads chafe
Bully boys beat up on the brave’.
Thanks Kim. I have been concentrating on writing posts for the A to Z Challenge next month but decided to have a go at this one after all…
The refrain resonated with me – what would have the last generation think of the leaders now? Sadly there is a bunch of despots who crave power, forgetting the sacrifices of all those who fought for truth and courage. Love the complaint, covering all the points and capturing the state of our world right now.
How nice would it be if my first response to prompts was not always to the state of the world – but I cannot seem to avoid it Grace, come back moon and June – all is forgiven…
You certainly capture the moment. Generations before us would be turning in their graves, I still try to figure out how on earth this all could happen so quickly. These two stanzas really hit me…
Nothing around us now seems safe
When dogs of war at their leads chafe
Bully boys beat up on the brave
The last generation turn in their graves
I lament their sacrifice laid waste
Blood and death’s most bitter taste
But given for to freedom save
The last generation turn in their graves
When good people do nothing….?
Just so, Shaun…
I grew up very aware of the sacrifices made – my mother was in charge of the switchboard at Portland where the invasion was being planned and so many lives, both English, French, American and Canadian were given to secure freedom from tyranny and twerps like Musk weren’t even born then and when they were born it was into an abhorrent regime – no wonder he doesn’t get what he is doing. Instead of a humanoid robot going to Mars – let’s send Elon…
I see all the bloodshed being undone which seems to be what we do over and over and over…. It seems like all poems for this prompt laments more or less the same thing.
Sadly so Björn but let us fight with our words anyway and not give in to the dictators…
Like Grace, I really felt that last stanza, Andrew. A blistering end to this powerfully indicting lament.
Thanks Dora and to quote a hymn that I used to enjoy singing mightily
“Fight the good fight
With all your might”…
Sadly, a lot of the oldest generation, the one who should know better because they were alive during the Cuba/Russia/Germany era, are allowing our country to fall back into those times. Great poem, Andrew!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
Thanks Yvette, it is sad that one has to write poems about things we took for granted were done and dusted…
A very timely lamwnt…I think they do turn in their graves…how many now would fight for democracy…..things are very serious, we have Orban and Fico in Europe helping the other two in Russia and U.S,…
Perhaps Trump and Musk will overeach and get taken down as the U S people have done before and then the Russians and Hungarians will follow suit – fingers crossed…
Excellent poem, Andrew. As part of the last generation, I am sickened and scared.
Thanks Sara! I start every day reading Heather Cox-Richardson – Letter from an American and some days it would bring one down as she charts the destruction but she also gives some hints of the overreach and signs of pushbacks and she reminds us that America has faced down tyrants and oligarchs before…