I hear whispers.

 

Whispers of whizzing bullets

and frothing mouths

and misplaced limbs

never to be sewed on again.

Whispers of a blood soaked earth

too chaotic to see through

the smoke

bodies that lay over foreign lands –

sons and daughters of death and decay

lest we shall remember

 

These se whispers I hear of war and of chaos

fall upon ignorant ears;

for there are childish war games that display

whizzing bullets and misplaced limbs

in trophy cases

Shouts of agony and letters of detriment fall past

the television screens and into the stories that

are told by ghosts –

the products of a blood soaked earth that has

forgotten

lest we shall remember

 

we forget that these whispers were once screams

men were targets of whizzing bullets

missing limbs now replaced with phantom pain and

silent voices that refuse to open their mouths

in fear of awakening the war within

lest we remember

 

the red earth we now tread is filled with the dried blood

of generations before and I hear whispers of screams beneath the rubble

”lest we forget”

 

I wrote this in response to an increasing feeling of disconnect between my generation and the generations before us who have fought for our freedom. I had used images of guns coupled with that of video games and trophy cases to showcase the frivolity that many younger people’s attitudes toward past wars hold. Furthermore, I reiterate the memory of those who lost their lives with the “whispers” of the screams of those who felt the pain in battle – the pain that is lost to those of us who had never experienced it before. The repetition of the phrase “lest we shall remember” and its slow progression to “lest we remember” and “lest we forget” is intentional. At first, “lest we shall remember.” is in response to the grief, pain, and sorrow felt by those who lived through war. However, as it progresses to “Lest we remember.” – the imagery also progresses to the wars that are trivialized in today’s society through video games and such. By partaking in such games that mock the horror that real people faced, we fail to remember the pain that they had gone through. Lastly, the “lest we forget” is a warning to those who continue to ignore the pain of those past. The “dried blood” of the earth may yet still be caked in fresh blood if we do not take heed to the past’s mistakes. Instead of making entertainment from real wartime scenarios, we should be recognizing the sacrifice and pain behind these stories – otherwise the past may be doomed to repeat itself once again.