Gaps

[tomchap]

This poem doesn't qualify as 'bush' - no rhyme, but the rhythm is regular, and each stanza is summed up in its last line. It reacalls my primary school days.

War leaves gaps in lives and families.

GAPS


With childish thought we shared our families' absence,
   Two men away from home.
My father, and my schoolmate's older brother;
   Two men away at war.

We'd imagine being fighting men,
   And only think of winning.
We didn't understand that all are losers:
   Everybody hurts.

And when Dad went away—his short leave done—
   I cried with angry grief.
I didn't share that with my little mate.
   I thought he might cry too.

The conflict over, Dad was home again,
   But home a different man.
Emotional scars and painful memories
   We didn't comprehend.

Suddenly he'd leave to go outside
   "Too closed in," he would say.
We'd finish evening meals without him there;
   A soldier wept alone.

And what about my little mate's big brother?

         He never made it home.

Copyright © 2007 Tom Chapman