On this August day
When John the Baptist dies
I think of certain soldiers
And of their dying cries
John and Owen Trumble
Great uncles they of mine
Orphaned in their childhood days
Killed before their time
John in Flanders May ‘16
Before the scourge of Somme
Owen near Jerusalem
Christmas Day just gone
I listened to Mark Knopfler
The song Brothers in Arms
Those Trumble brothers never saw
A world without alarms
Their names are written clear on stone
Tyldesley cemetery
The world continues warring
Its ugly symmetry
It’s not enough to give up war
Or refrain from doing wrong
We have to love each other true
And sing a better song
Brian Fahy
29 August 2022
+ Bishop Robert Barron speaks about ‘agere contra’. If something is bent out of true, you have to press it strongly in the other direction to bring it back to true. Giving up war is not enough. We must actively pursue the love of others in order to restore the health of humanity.
Erris Poetry 