Francis Duggan War Poems

The war supposed to end all wars it is long over it ended more than ninety years ago
But most of us human beings are known to be aggressive and not unwilling to create a foe
After two World wars and many major battles we hear of wars and rumors of wars every day
And the poor in war are those who mostly suffer this is how it is and it will always be this way
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Of the horrors of war we hear every day
And of death and destruction in cities far away
And any lesson it would seem not learned from the past
And mistrust and enmity for centuries last.
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Though talk of war and death and such I do not wish to hear
To glorify war heroes we have the balladeer
The old men displaying their medals march on war memorial day
Though they look tired and weary now and they are old and gray.
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Your ideas of war and war heroes are your own and that's okay with me
But when you tell me war leads to peace with you I can't agree
Bad feelings between people who have been to war for years and years remain
In war as well as the needless loss of life friends you don't ever gain
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If you judge him do not judge him harshly or why judge him at all
Since the darkest of memories are his to recall
Many of his comrades around him under gunfire did fall
Their names to be seen on War Memorial wall.
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He always wears his war medals on his coat of them he feels so proud
And he has a hearing problem the reason he talks so loud
He says I'm a World war hero of which some don't wish to know
Of a battle fought in Europe more than six decades ago.
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By those interested in war history war history is read
But the winners write the war history or so it is said
That is how it is and will always be
What is true to one is not to another that's how it seems to me
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Adown the streets of the town the winds of Winter blow
And the weather it is chilly and cold enough to snow
And old Joan is out walking a black rain coat she wear
But she does not have a hat on the wind tosses her gray hair.
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I'll tell to you a story of one I vaguely know
An aged veteran of World war 2 some sixty years ago
A poor worn out old warrior the years have left him gray
In the early stages of forgetfulness his memory in decay.
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Despite death and injury it has all been in vain
The war it is over but the hatred remain
The war it is over but the hatred won't die
And that war leads to peace and justice is always a lie.
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Of war and it's bloodshed far too much we know
Let's hear it for peace and for all a fair go
Nationalism, Religion, Patriotism and Culture only seem to divide
And war leaders declare we have God on our side.
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Do not wish to hear your war stories of battles fought and won
Since I saw on t v this evening a mother grieve for her dead son
Her son murdered by a sniper with a bullet in his back
And I could only feel pity for this poor mother in Iraq
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Enough of war from war there is no gain
Only injuries, bloodshed and death and pain
What we need is love and peace and harmony
Enough of war and it's tragic history,
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A war about God and a war about Land
The tragic loss of lives I do not understand
A just war in truth is a damnable lie
For in modern day conflicts many civilians do die
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For to celebrate war there's always one more parade
And out of war warriors heroes are made
Only the good die young some are known to say
But I know good people who are old and gray.
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I've always thought that the word holy involved prayer
But the Muslims of Ambon in Indonesia say they ought declare
A holy war on all Christians living there
And religious tolerance seems strained beyond repair.
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For to defeat terrorism one do not wage war on terror for terrorists do not respect man made laws
Since the only way that terror can be defeated is for Governments to attack it's root cause
And that is not to shoot and bomb and murder for terror is caused by inequality
For the war on terror ought to be more friendly a benign war on man made poverty.
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I will oppose the men of war until the Reaper takes me
Until the breath that gives me life it finally forsakes me
I'll use words for to oppose them they send the young to battle
To fight for the colour of their National flag and die like slaughtered cattle.
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Along the war Avenue of Honour a plaque to a dead soldier nailed to every tree
Brave young men who died in battle their reward for their bravery
They died in the war said to end all wars in the killing fields of World war one
But many wars since and far too many bloody battles and peace in the World not yet won.
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Of battles won and noble soldiers you hear the old balladeer sing
But war only brings death and suffering and war never solves anything
And the mental scars of war keep festering long after the battle does end
You badly injure or kill someone's loved one that person will not be your friend.
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Of war heroes so much is written and said
But for every living war hero there are a thousand war dead
And dead heroes and dead villians they all are the same
They will not hear you speak when you mention them by name.
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The winners write the war history or so it has been said
And though they may have their celebrations they cannot bring back the dead
For the dead are gone forever in eternal rest they lay
And in war winners are losers despite what some do think or say,
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With hair dyes and face lifts he covers his wrinkles and gray
The War President is in retirement today
In his beautiful home with his loyal and attractive wife
One of the very privileged minority enjoying the good life.
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To so called patriots and pro war people and those to enlightenment blind
They are not to be trusted and are traitor kind
But they march for peace and I see that as great
And they are the people that I celebrate
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They stifle the grass and they stifle the flowers
The weeds that grow rank in the warm Spring showers
Reminds me of the war men who for war create their foe
They don't give the flower of peace a chance to grow
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George W Bush is spending billions in U S taxpayers money fighting a war in Iraq
Whilst the people he is claiming to liberate are constantly under attack
From terrorists he helped to create where thousands are injured and thousands are dead
Bush is just not up to the top job and the power it has gone to his head
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For them in their Homeland no memorial or last post is ever played
And in their honour there never was a parade
The brave young Irishmen who fought in World war one
In their Homeland ignored as if wrong they had done.
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They are war damaged people the poor people of Iraq
By night and day they live in fear of terrorist attack
Terrorism that war has brought to their Country that could go on for years
Division drawn by tribal Warlords in Land of blood and tears
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That war leads to acts of terrorism does seem fair to say
And more people in bombings and shootings are dying every day
That peace comes from conflict surely based on a lie
Some to kill those they see as their enemy are prepared to die
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We've not learned from war history the facts never lie
For God and for Country many still fight and die
The flowers do not bloom brighter on the dead soldier's grave
As the one who died of old age and was not known to be brave.
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The war mother grieves for her dead soldier son
Because of brave young men like him the battle was won
He was a true hero where war history was made
But he did not march in the victory parade
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Why talk about war to an anti war one like me
Since you know with what you say of it I won't agree
Since talking of military matters I'd rather decline
And your sort of heroes will never be mine
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That we learn from our past mistakes in some instances a lie
For God and Flag and Country so many still prepared to die
In a World of millions of Homeless people where poverty is rife
We still have war that leads to terrorism and disrespect for human life
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Get rid of the war planes, the bombs and the guns
That deprive mothers of their daughters and sons
Without them the World would be a safer place to live in
For in the wars we won't have everybody will win.
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What hair he has left on his head it is whiter than gray
As old as Methulesah as some are known to say
He looks rather gummy without his false teeth
Yet nicer than him one could not wish to meet
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'Tis said that a million people in Iraq have died
Their gift of life to them by war was denied
A war that turned out to be based on a lie
A million are dead and many more to die
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You like to talk about war heroes I'll take you to meet one today
On warm days he sits on a park chair from here in distance a short walk away
In him you may feel disappointed he is frail and aged and gray
He has blocked out most of his war memories of war he has little to say.
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The losers never write the war history that's something we already know
Yet for the many wars fought through the ages we do not have the wisdom to show
That victory too comes at a huge cost for war the price is huge to pay
For families who grieve for their dead members their sense of loss with them will stay
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The war winners always write the war history and as for those in war who have known defeat
They never do know of adulation and with a sad ending they meet
Arrested and tried for war crimes and executed for crimes against humanity
The victorious war leaders are feted as heroes though they seem no less guilty to me
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I've never even been in a war zone though of the war dead the balladeers sing
But it isn't that hard to imagine that war must be a terrible thing
Those who start wars should lead their troops in battle but they leave others for them to fight
Such people not worthy of honour two wrongs never do make a right.
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He talked of the war that he fought in
A war that cost lives for to win
And to me his medal for bravery did show
From more than six decades ago
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My only war is with myself I find life quite a battle
In the paddock across the road I envy the red white face cattle
They sit in the sunshine and they chew their cud without a care or worry
Whilst I am full of jumbled thoughts and I'm always in a hurry.
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Don't sing us another song tonight of soldiers in wars who died young
We need to hear something quite different of them you already have sung
The war supposed to end all wars long over though many wars have been fought since
That people die whilst shooting at each other hardly makes for good human sense.
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Don't talk of war to Ruby or battles fought and won
In Vietnam in the late sixties she lost her only son
When he was only twenty the Vietcong killed her Dave
He was a noble young man and he died very brave.
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She will not grow gray and bent with age and her sight won't slowly fade
The ten year old in Lebanon who died in a bombing raid
Her shattered mother racked with grief weeps for her night and day
It seems all wrong that one so young should die in such a way.
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He cannot sustain relationships this orphan of a war
That took place many years ago in a Country from here far
His only offspring his daughter and her children he has not seen for years
In the privacy of his room his memories often move him to tears.
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Through darkened sky the b 52 pass
And the pilot whoops tonight 'we will kick ass'
He release his bombs a loud bang in the dark
The sky light up the bombs have hit their mark.
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All around the World war is raging and the mother grieves for her dead son
And what did the poor fellow die for as nothing is solved by the gun?
No bombs and guns don't solve a problem they only make the problem worse
The lust for land and power and money on us human kind is a curse.
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An ageing ex soldier in his late fifties and one might say a war damaged man
He fought in conflict in southern Asia against the Vietcong in Vietnam
In a war where heroes were forgotten and Vietnam scarcely mentioned today
And history never written by the losers it's the winners write history they say.
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The story has been told down through the ages of how men nailed the son of God to a wooden cross
And still we hear of crimes against humanity and one person's loss of rights is everybody's loss
And still we have men going to war for God and Wealth and Land and Glory though their God hardly with them would agree
And many far too many go unpunished for awful crimes against humanity.
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