Peacetime

Peacetime


The beaches we walk on are silent once more,

A gentle sound washes us, waves against shore,

Peacetime prevails in our hearts after war,

Bloodlines extinguished still bleed at our core.


Hang up the bunting,

Dance with your friends,

Peacetime prevails now,

Let's make amends.


But across the land mass of Europe bombs fall,

This peacetime it seems is not here for us all,

Humanitarian aid, mouths open, they call,

Hungry and homeless, too weak to stand tall.


Hang up the bunting,

Dance with your friends,

Peacetime prevails now,

Let's make amends.


So lucky are we to be able to walk,

On beaches not bloodied, with freedom to talk,

Street parties, full tables with food, knives and forks,

Joy in our peacetime crumbles, just like the chalk...


Hang up the bunting,

Dance with your friends,

Peacetime prevails now,

Let's make amends.


...The white cliffs of Dover are pitted with scars

From those soldiers and sailors and our hollow hurrahs,

As we send 'home' the boat weary, byes and tarahs,

To revel in our freedom, our lives lived like stars. 


Hang up the bunting,

Dance with your friends,

Peacetime prevails now,

Let's make amends.


A Wensley

8.05.2025

Photo by myself, from a visit to Omaha Beach in 2003, the war memorial visible in the background.




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