He ripped away the patriotic fog
by painting scenes of brutal blood and gore,
of tedium and unrelenting slog
to show the world the horrors of the war.
He learned from all the greatest of the age.
Sassoon would coax from him his finest art:
the voice that told a generation’s rage,
with passions stolen from a broken heart.
When all was won and death still greater waste,
he gave his life as millions had before.
The news gave peace a lasting bitter taste,
and emphasised the dreadful final score.
There is no sweet and fitting way to die;
his verses showed the world that greatest lie.
Jeff Green, who lives in Harrow, UK. is by training and inclination a scientist, is also a long-time lover of words. Of himself, he says, “I started writing poetry for others when I included brief rhymes in Christmas cards for a group of lovely young ladies about five years ago, but had always played with the sound of words for my own amusement. The girls all wanted to read each others verses and asked for more, one of them encouraged me to find a wider audience, and after much nagging I did so. Writing regularly lead me to understand what I really like in poetry, and that is how I got here!” www. allpoetry.com/cricketjeff
This sonnet is pre-published with the permission of the Editor-in-chief from:Richard Vallance, editor-in-chief. The Phoenix Rising from the Ashes: Anthology of sonnets of the early third millennium = Le Phénix renaissant de ses cendres : Anthologie de sonnets au début du troisième millénaire. Friesen Presse, Victoria, B.C., Canada. © 2013. approx. 240 pp. ISBN Hardcover: 978-1-4602-1700-9 Price: $28.00 Paperback: 978-1-4602-1701-6 Price: $18.00 e-Book: 978-1-4602-1702-3 Price: TBA
300 sonnets & ghazals in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese & Persian. Selected sonnets in this anthology are to be pre-published by our permission in Poetry Life & Times (UK) which has exclusive sole rights prior to the publication of the anthology itself. Readers may also contact Richard Vallance, Editor-in-Chief, at: vallance22@gmx.com for further information.http://vallance22.hpage.com/
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