GALLIPOLI SUNRISE

 

GALLIPOLI SUNRISE ....  Maureen Clifford © The #ScribblyBarkPoet

 

As the sun rose over ancient water

and the surf swept and foamed over stone,

red fingers of fire mimicked slaughter,

 and the breeze in the pines raised a moan

akin to the sound of their torment,

  a low, inadmissible tone

of souls who were lost in the ether -

the fallen who couldn't go home.

 

Tiny dewdrops of brightness still lingered,

clinging fast to the old rusting wire,

but these were the globules from rain showers,

 not blood drops from enemy fire.

And from somewhere deep in my memory -

 a melody we used to share,

a song that my mother had taught me

so well ..... 'Australia will be there '.

 

A rose wreath I tossed in the Aegean

as a token of love for you both,

the red for the roses you gave her

on the day when you pledged her your troth.

A symbol of love and devotion

for centuries so stories tell,

so I sent a prayer to the ether

and hoped that it found you both well.

 

For I'll not walk these shores again I know,

age has caught up with me now at last.

I needed to walk there beside you

as I did as a child - hands held fast.

I felt the soft breezes surround me

'twas like you both held me encased

as the sun rose over ancient waters

Turkey's soil held you in her embrace.