I was not alive during World War two,

Even dad was a lad during the blitz,

Living a stone throw from Fisherman's wharf,

Nightly bombarded by 'The Luftwaffe Fritz'.

 

Remember reading of the Yangtze incident,

In a historical magazine edition,

As well as the wars in Kenya and Korea

The horrors of Indian Partition.

 

Little more than just a toddler,

Back in October sixty two,

When the standoff Cuban Crisis,

Left Russia in an American stew.

 

In my youth, whilst still a schoolboy,

I was tutored on Oppenheimer's plan,

Actions that were completely unfathomable,

A tragedy for the whole of Japan.

 

We saw the aftermath in documentaries,

The burning flesh, the loss of sight,

Congenital new birth defects,

How could 'Enola Gay' be right.

 

Luckily my military service began,

As the Vietnam war ended,

But Irish republican dissidents

Showed, Britain and I were undefended.

 

Remembering active service training,

Watching horrific films of nuclear war.

We all worried in silent foreboding,

Do we have futures? What's in store?

 

We trained hard, practised drills in case,

All hell broke and the bomb was dropped,

We acted out cold war scenarios,

In case our crazy world popped,

 

We were all so frightened,

We were so very scared,

We were young, with only one hope

That our tomorrows would be spared. 

 

Despots with fingers on the buttons,

Of far more bombs than it would take,

To blow this world to smithereens,

A dust cloud, a radioactive wake.

 

I have shocking nightmares even today,

Of just what might have been,

We live in mutual peace together,

Let nothing come between.

 

I have for many long years, felt

Comfort, whilst snuggled in my bed,

Recent events have clearly shown,

You can't completely escape your own dread.

 

The Mad men, the politicians,

Argue against each others cause,

But it's the little people who suffer,

The futility of their wars.

 

The conflict with Ukraine has clearly shown,

That Mother Russia intends not to be,

Content with a new cold war scenario, but,

Intent on World War Three.

 

 

 

©Russell Jacklin 2022