First World War - a retort to all the sanctimoniousness

War Memorials 1914-18

Some fell, the inscriptions say,

but did they trip

or were they pushed?

Some lost their lives.

You do tend to lose things

in a foreign country,

but this does seem a bit careless

Some gave their lives, we’re told.

which was certainly generous,

- perhaps to a fault.

Some even made the supreme sacrifice,

so others assure us,

on their behalf.

But, you would never think

from reading these memorials,

that anybody desperately wanted to live,

and then got killed.

From: Agit Poems by Bob Dixon (Artery Publications 1984)