This week you have a choice. You can write about the #Theme of Thanksgiving (thankful, grateful, family, etc. whatever that word means to you)
OR
here are your two words for this week:
“End & Hurry”
Hopefully they travelled Across the Atlantic Ocean Praying for safe delivery Pleased at first sight of land Yearning for all they had left behind Thankful to be safely delivered Hopeful of a brave new world Aching in soul and body No one shirked their duties Kindred spirits they worked together Spring, Summer and Autumn brought their hardships Giving thanks to their God Indians watched them from afar Vainly struggling in a hostile world In fear they struggled but Never giving up they reached harvest God saw them through and they gave thanks.
So as I did an Acrostic poem which is not within our remit so here is a Tanka. A synonymous Tanka not using the words End and Hurry.
Thanksgiving Tanka It comes to a close The year gently closing down Only to speed up Thanksgiving with family It all ends so happily.
They were so brave, so very young Their journey had not yet begun. Blindly they marched into the guns To a last roll call at the setting sun. They had family and loved ones They all marched off as friends They left their homes full of hope Most would not be back again.
Why Argue Both were brave Each had their own Principles to up Hold. Neither less than bold. One would carry a weapon The other a stretcher, no gun Both men died for their own held beliefs They were both lost and that loss brought much grief. ———
From the beginning of time up until now and way in to the future war prevails. I believe we will never be free of war.
What we can do is remember those who have given their health or their lives for us to hopefully live better lives. I say Thank You.
It’s not as glamorous as it used to be. Not anymore. Time was we were sought after with our Pentax and Olympus. We stay up all hours , red light cigarette in mouth, blow the chemicals. We got the shots, developed them made the image, iconic.
We’re not needed now, it’s all digital.
(280 Characters)
I am running so late today , I have not had time to write a post for International Women’s Day. I thought I would re-post an SoCs from November 2016. In that post I pad tribute to the women of WW1 and WW2 who took over all the jobs that the men who had been sent off to war left empty here in what was known then as Great Britain.
Not only did the women do these , sometimes very dangerous jobs,but they looked after the families and homes. Now I do not wish in any way to detract from the huge sacrifice of all the men who fought for our countries during the two wars .
First a poem.
Remember the women left back home.
They made the ammunition for Tommy
Dangerous work,they died too, it was not funny.
Women became officers of the law
Something never heard of before.
Nurses, drivers even pilots for planes
Remember them we will never know their names
Someone had to give the farmers a hand
Remember the men were at war in a foreign land.
The members of the ” fairer sex ”
Drove the buses, trains and lorries
Kept all essential job going, however complex
They also fed the family and kept the Home Fires Burning
And then a song.
During the wars WW1 and WW2 women filled in the gaps that the men who had been sent off to war left. It is not always remembered that they worked in the factories drove buses , trains and flew planes and probably sailed ships. They became members of the forces, nurses at home and on the war front too. They were also seconded into the police these jobs were almost unheard of for women before the first world war. They also had to do hard farm labour on the farms to help keep the food supplies going.
Women worked in shipyards, built planes and also made ammunition, hard and dangerous work.
It was not just the fact that the bombs , shells or landmines could explode if mishandled but the TNT was dangerous to the women’s health.
Also some Facts.
” Munitions workers whose job was filling shells were prone to suffer from TNT poisoning. TNT stood for Trinitrotoluene – an explosive which turned the skin yellow of those who regularly came into contact with it. The munitions workers who were affected by this were commonly known as ‘canaries’ due to their bright yellow appearance. Although the visible effects usually wore off, some women died from working with TNT, if they were exposed to it for a prolonged period. As Ethel Dean, who worked at Woolwich Arsenal, recalled, ‘Everything that that powder touches goes yellow. All the girls’ faces were yellow, all round their mouths. They had their own canteen, in which everything was yellow that they touched… Everything they touched went yellow – chairs, tables, everything.’ (IWM SR 9439) More imformation here
Women did so many jobs that before the first world war, those of the middle and higher class would never even contemplated. Many died of injury and of disease due to chemicals, asbestos used in badly ventilated buildings.
All images from Google Images women at war WW1 and WW2
My tribute to all women past present and future. We have always and always will pick up the slack , support men and do our best. Today there are women leading full services lives in all our armed forces and police.
