Lest We Forget – A poem about World War 2

Dave Forever Young writes:

Please remember, don’t forget

All the hardships World War II brought;

The evacuation of children and the call up of men,

The thunder of bombs and silencing of Big Ben;

The blackouts and wardens call “Put out that light”

In his pajamas he was a sorry sight;

Everything was rationed, only one egg a week

And if you were lucky, one bacon streak;

No silk stockings, bananas, chocolate or sweets

Just queues and queues and black market treats.

Then there was the Anderson shelter, supplied free;

It was a do-it-yourself job, which meant Mum and me.

We dug the hole in the garden through rock, clay and soil,

By the sweat of our brow, oh how we did toil.

We put in the corrugated iron but it didn’t quite fit,

So we drilled new holes and made the best of it.

It was furnished with bunks and cots

Gas heaters, lights, blankets and what-nots

When the siren sounded late one winter’s night

We rushed to the shelter, shaking with fright;

There was Mum, me and Grandma aged eighty-three.

We were thin but Grandma didn’t enter easily;

She got stuck in the middle, neither in nor out

Grandma couldn’t move and had an attack of gout

The “all clear” sounded and we all thanked God

But were unable to extract Grandma as she was too broad

Grandma shouted and cursed and swore

Many words we’d never heard before

We had to dismantle the shelter to get her up the stair

“Never, never again”, I heard her declare.

So please remember our dear Grandma

Who died some time later with pneumonia.

We mourn the loss of all those lives

And sympathize with sisters, brothers and wives

We pray that the Lord will bring us peace

And all wars everywhere will forever cease!!!