One-Liner Wednesday. & Just Jot it January 6th: Icy Fingers.

She could feel her icy fingers begin to thaw on the warm sand…..the transformation might be very pleasant.

Part of LindaGHill’s One-Liner Wednesday and Just Jot it January

Happy Thanksgiving 2020.

I send this happy greeting out to all my American friends and readers all over the world who are celebrating Thanksgiving today. I hope you all have a wonderful day. Please say a prayer for those less fortunate out there. In these covid days I hope you are all safe and being sensible. Stay safe and well and protect eachother. I have written in an Acrostic Poem for you all.

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 got them through and they gave thanks.

Photo by Valiphotos on Pexels.com

Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry Prompt #Challenge 331 FIRST & Heal

The Challenge Words!

FIRST & Heal

©Maureen Collins.

Before we can heal

We have first to learn the truth

Bright new beginnings.

This is part of Ronovanwrite’s Weekly Haiku Challenge.

We shall never forget.

They lie not in that empty grave
Beneath the foreign sod.
They do not lie forgotten
In that cold, and desolate Land of Nod.

Soldier Boy … Solider Boy,
The trumpets blast, and blare;
And wreaths are laid at the Cenotaph,
To show … that we still care.

But … there’s a greater love than Man’s
Who knows the price you paid.
He spared you the indignity,
And lifted you from that cold, cold grave.

He created a Great Celestial Shrine,
And the moment it was done …
With a gentle hand, placed the Valiant heart,
Of each dear Mother’s son.

Soldier Boy … Solider Boy,
Under Dutch blue skies,
The gentle Breeze of Holland …
Kiss your grave … as they pass by.

Written by  Earl Doucette

I could not find anything about Earl Doucette apart from the fact that he was Canadian.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This  is a beautiful poem. It speaks of God, whatever name  you give him/her, lifting all the dead soldiers from their cold or hot and bloodied graves all over the world and  in all times past and future and even present. He takes  them to Heaven ..whatever name you have for heaven. It is a comfort to us all, for the violent deaths and hurried burials that soldiers on the battle theatres  of war received. It troubles us all and so we have these poems to salve our consciences and please our tender souls .

We all have Remembrance Days but this is a way of saying they got a greater remembrance. I shall say no more you have all heard my feelings on War .

Lest we forget. Rememberance Sunday 2020.

Today is the nearest Sunday to Remembrance Day  here in  the UK . Because of Covid 19 the Veterans will not be Marching. Also we will not forgetting all those men and women injured and killed in more recent conflicts.

I  thought I  would  remember  the  women  for  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 .

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

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 factorys  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.

” 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.

Also  they played  their  part in  SOE   read here   and also  here  .

All images  from  Google Images  women  at  war  ww1 and  ww2

And the Men

We sent them off to war,

These bright young men

We had no knowledge of what they saw,

They came home, bright young men no more .

Yes though brave they were no longer whole

Those that survived had no soul.

Many died,the lucky ones, death to them was kind.

Those who returned were faded in body and in mind.

Their loved ones at first relieved

Soon found they had much cause to grieve.

Though there, in body broken,

Their fears left unspoken

Their minds were left behind.

They went out whole, these bright young things.

They returned lost, holding on by gossimar strings

They went full of pride for God and King

They ran head long into hell

On return they could not relinquish it’s spell.

So we had a nation of half men, half ghosts

Fearful, their heads still had them at their posts.

The trenches and the blasts of bombs, the smell of death

Clung to them and bled them dry, the whole in body, the blind of eye

The amputee, it was as if they had never left.

We sent them off to war,

These bright young men

We had no knowledge of what they saw,

They returned, bright young men no more.

Paintings by William Rothenstein.

The Red, White and Purple Poppy.

I do not want to upset anyone but as we draw near to Rememberance Day I just wanted to share my feelings on the poppies we wear. I wrote this back in 2018.

There are more than one, these days, the red to remember the dead, the white for peace. The white to remember the conscientious objector. During WW1 and WW2 many thought these men were cowards. I do feel they were brave, enough to stand up for their beliefs. Many were tried and shot for not taking up arms. Many spent the war as medics and stretcher bearers unarmed or in the mines though of course not all wartime miners were objctors.

What ever you think, the wars killed them irrespective of their principles. I respect the Red and the White.

The Red and the White.

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.

———

Then there is the Purple Poppy in remembrance of all the animals who died in service during conflicts and serve with us still in modern conflicts.

They pulled the gun carriages until they dropped

They carried messages and they got shot.

They search out the unexploded mines

They save lives a thousand times.

Spare a thought for the horse, pigeon, donkey dog and many more

Remember them, they all help us in times of war

Interlude: Looking Back…

A beautiful clip from Sue Vincent’s silent Eye Blog.

“The circle opened its heart to welcome me back… and ‘welcoming’ was exactly the feeling Stuart reported later, with a good deal of surprise. It was not what he had expected from the place at all. It is hard to find words that describe it… as if each of the different types of stone… the sarsens, bluestones, gneiss and many others… all sing a different note, but no matter how beautifully they harmonise, their song needs to pass through the human heart in order to be heard, felt and lived. So it was with tears of gratitude streaming… and probably a very silly grin… that we finally entered the circle of stones.”

Read Sue’s beautiful, coming home post at source

Colleen’s 2019 Weekly #Tanka Tuesday #Poetry Challenge No. 155 #SynonymsOnly or #Theme-Thanksgiving

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.

This is part of Colleen’s Tuesday Tanka.

Lest We Forget.

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.

White Poppy Floral Background Field Red

They pulled the gun carriages until they dropped

They carried messages and they got shot.

They searched out the unexploded mines

They saved lives a thousand times.

Spare a thought for the horse, pigeon, donkey dog and many more

Remember them, they all help us in times of war

Image from Pixabayhttps://pixabay.com/photos/flower-white-poppy-2684182/

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.

We must never forget.

Sleeping Dragon , Shadorma.

© willowdot21 2019

Sleep softly

As thousands of feet

Walk past you

Men are blind

To all your timeless wisdom

Older than all time