To wait ........

[therese]

your beautiful poem got me thinking irene, so last night (well, the wee small hours of this morning) i got to rummaging for this that i wrote a couple of years ago.  not as good as yours, but worth a look.

(amazing what else you find when you're not looking for it!  ....  thanks, i found a book i've been looking for, for ages   )

To wait...

'The war to end all wars' they say
I'm sorry, I don't agree,
such fanfare on their leaving day
and then gallipoli.

My uncle, and my husband
both landed there, day one,
and died there on the headland
leaving me with our young son.

And I carried still another child
who never knew its dad,
they said "be strong," which made me wild
felt I was going mad.

"We're military people, girl
we've khaki in our veins,"
I didn't care about the world
just wanted my husband again.

A piece of papers' all it took
to shatter all our dreams,
twenty six years, and now tobruk
we never learned, it seems.

So once again, I'm left to wait
dread the mailman at the door,
one son runs the farm, thats great
but the others on some distant shore.

therese mitchell  '05

[heyu]

Don't sell yourself short Therese, that is a great poem.  So much on record of the horrors of war and the hardships experienced by our Diggers, but relatively very little of the horrors and hardships that wives, sweethearts and children who battled on, back home, had to face.  Waiting, sometimes for months, without news of their loved ones and daily fearing the arrival of that telegram.  They did it tough.

cheers

heyu

[therese]

thanks for you kind words heyu.  i wrote that a few years ago, in the midst of researching rellies in the ww's.  we had a few at gallipoli, some at the end and the leaving. mums dad was in 1 and 2.

if you are doing your family tree, or are just interested, you can write to a Colonel Smith.  He will get the miilitary records of your rellies.  its just the one cost, wether they were in one or more wars.

Mostly Unsung,
Military History Research,
Box 7020
Brighton  3186
Victoria

03 9555 5401    and email is, milhis@alphalink.com.au

*oh, sorry ric ... is this considered spam?   if so, im sorry!

[Irene]

Hi Therese
Sorry, haven't had a chance to get back on line for a while to reply to you - been pretty busy lately!!
Glad to have been of help in finding that long lost book!!

I have to agree with Heyu - don't sell yourself short. Your poem is very lovely, and certainly, it again highlights the situation that many women have found themselves in over the years. Where did your inspiration come from? I was looking for a different angle to write my poem for the February/March competition, and, like Heyu, find that there is no where near enough emphasis made on the suffering of the families left behind, nor of the emotional effects that returned soldiers and families suffered from as they dealt with the aftermath of war, and re-adjustment to civilian life.

I posted it in the RSL section because it was a quiet time for poems, and I have still to polish it up a little before posting it in the competition section. Hope you are posting yours in the competition - I presume you are allowed to have a couple of entries!?!

 

[therese]

thanks for your kind words irene.   we've been digging for our family tree for about fifteen years now.  we had gotten the military histories of some of ours about the time i wrote it.  so late at night entering our info into the computer program for our tree, the cogs start turning .... well sometimes, lol.