The Echo That Haunts My Ear
A poem on meaningless war, loss and resistance
The Echo that haunts my ear
A sound that lingers, sharp and near
The whisper of death is drawing close.
A threat of torn and shattered lives,
Of comrades lost in dust and smoke.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
An oath was sworn, adventure called,
Then war stepped in, so stern, so cold.
Defend your home, your blood, your land,
The weak, the old, the young, the damned.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
A country crushed by ancient spite,
By greed and thirst for power’s might,
By aging men who scheme and plot,
Too frail to fight the wars they wrought.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
Too rich to soil their own two hands,
Too rich to hear a lone demand,
Too rich to ever fear the cost,
Too rich to bleed, too rich be lost.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
And mothers grieve in darkened halls,
And widows tend to silent calls,
And sisters bear the weight alone,
As fatherless, the children roam.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
When war is done, what will remain?
A land that’s lost, and souls in chains.
A people torn, a future stained,
A cycle set to start again.
Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta.
✦ ✦ ✦➖➖➖◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈ ◈➖➖➖✦ ✦ ✦
It must end now — before the wounds will cut too deep,
Before the rage do start to grow and creep,
Before the souls are lost for ever and good,
Before the world is drenched in hatred and blood.
Slava Ukraini Slava Ukraini.
About the Creator
Henrik Hageland
A poet, a writer of feelings and hope. A Dane and inhibitant of the Earth thinking about what is to come.
A good story told or invented. Human all the way through.
Want to know more? Visit Substack , my YouTube Channel or TikTok.
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Winter dies – spring comes Over the rim of my cup I’m cold - steam goes up #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-# Author’s Note: This haiku captures the transition between winter and spring in a single moment—a cup of warm tea or coffee, with steam rising into the cool air.
By Henrik Hageland11 months ago in Poets
Comments (3)
Excellent Henrik - and I love the repetition of the Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta at the end of each stanza.
You have captured the fiutlilty of war quie well my friend. I eslecially liked this stanza: An oath was sworn, adventure called, Then war stepped in, so stern, so cold. Defend your home, your blood, your land, The weak, the old, the young, the damned. We ask people to go and fight for a cause they have no part in. At least in the old days, kings and generals fought alongside their soldiers. Now, they sit in cozy chairs and yell commands while sipping a scotch.
Powerful and pertinent words