NEWLYN'S WAR MEMORIAL: A NEW POEM...

Newlyn’s War Memorial Frieze

There are no smiles.

No sense even, of triumph

As men file across life’s stage,

Of war’s theatrical bronze frieze,

Merely determination

And fierce jawlines

On men who have seen horror, crimes,

Strife and pity in death’s wiles;

And yet in their steely eyes

There is no recrimination.

Hauling weaponry, stores, tools of the trench,

A shovel and an angular wrench;

Yet straight-backed, a trio of comrades

Marches with colours raised proud,

Duty done, minds torn awry

By the mud, the carnage, the stench,

With scant hope of amelioration… 

Pete Ray

December 2018

This was one of the first memorials I photographed, some years ago.

I took these images last week.

Sailors, soldiers, men hauling supplies are all featured strongly on this bronze frieze…