A specially curated and collected anthology of Anti War and Conflict Poetry that also includes a selection of brand new poems published here for the first time.
Also featured is a special lyrical prologue and epilogue written the legendary rock band Hawkwind with grateful thanks to Dave Brock their founder member.
War by its nature is visual, brutal and shocking and the poetry ranges from tangental obliqueness to being hauntingly and uncomfortably detailed and hopefully will give the reader a more meditative or contemplative reflective understanding of just how fragile humanity is and always has been.
From the Book:
All For An Empire
All for an empire
loyalty and lies
setting sail by the moon
at the turn of the tide
Battles in the sand dunes
fought for an empire
landings at dawn
thrusting forth the sons fire
Charging and crawling
through wire and trenches
all for an empire
and hearts that are wrenched
All those left behind
touched no more and the reason why
all for an empire
a plume of ash in a blue sky
Before Bill Popped His Clogs
Bill my other grandad popped his clogs in the fifties
in his 50s
before I were born
Lying about his age
defying the law
sailing up the Yangtze
on the HMS Dragonfly
before the war
Deserting legally the navy
instead a runway navvy
fiddling with Bristol Bulldogs
and other nefarious schemes got you discharged
not quite honourably
who else can say they served and survived of sorts
in three of the three forces
You deserted again your family
when your son was born
and died of a hare lip
running away to drift
blagging and bagging your way
to become Bob Hope’s and Bing Crosby’s caddie
leaving your dad to plaster alone at home
and business to crumble
A move next door but one to Lowry in Mottram
becoming his friend for a time
a model for a while
sitting in Piccadilly Gardens on that bench
bowler hat in a corner
and the man on the wall but no-one ever knew
apart from the red carnation
flowering from a breast pocket
