Casualty

Women are the casualties of war
They live on
When their loved ones die
They live on
Bearing now the scar
Silently they grieve and silent cry

Two photos in a house
One time I saw
One a husband one a loving son
First War took her spouse away
Second took her son
Wounded twice and left there on her own

Margaret Trumble
Knew the price of war
Three brothers went a way
But one came home
John in Flanders fell
1916
Before the Somme offensive
And the hell

Owen out in Middle-eastern lands
Fell before Jerusalem
‘17
Crawling out in no man’s land
A fellow to retrieve
Sniper shot
Margaret left to grieve

Two years later
Margaret lost a son,
Patrick only 7
When he died
A careless stone was thrown
Struck on the head
Headache first and later
He was dead

Margaret was my grandma
Father’s mum
To me a smiling presence
From the start
Always found her baking
Warm and loving House
Her sorrows gently buried
In her heart

Women are the casualties of war…

Brian Fahy
18 May 2021