IRONBRIDGE'S WAR MEMORIAL: RECURRING TENSION... (A NEW POEM...)

 Ironbridge’s War Memorial: Recurring Tension…

There is a slight lean, maybe a stoop,

Caused by a kitbag’s unwieldy weight,

Or more than likely from the memories

Of warfare, suffered by his troop;

There is a slight grimace, maybe an intensity

About his clean-shaven face with taut lips,

Cheeks hollowed from the harrowing woe  

Of warfare, endured with sagacity; 

There is a slight strain, maybe unease:

A helmet hangs from his pack, a soft cap is worn,

As if at a comrade’s field interment, another casualty

Of warfare, confined to find peace…

And to strained calves his wrapped puttees still cling

And his bayonet lies clamped to the bulk of lugged gear 

 And it remains silent like his sorrow, his thoughts and his fear,

Packed in an old kitbag, about which men would once sing…

Pete Ray

August 2020

 

Ironbridge’s war memorial, close to the iron bridge across the River Severn, which has been illuminated to feature the listed names by a nearby church clock…

 

These two images below were taken by my ex-schoolfriend John Higgins, who now lives in Ironbridge…

Thanks, my friend!