Child of War

by Milly Hayward   Apr 9, 2022


Deep in the dark we huddle,
no food or water to spare.
My friends are dead or dying,
how did life get so unfair

Mummy took baby to safety
Daddy has gone off to fight
Granny lays dead beside me
I'm trapped in a cycle of fright

Upstairs the rooms are shaking.
Gunshots seem to fill up the air.
We crouch holding each other
our hearts wrenched in despair

Footsteps now on the stairway
Is this the moment we die?
Hands grasped, we stop breathing,
then as one, we let out a sigh

It's Daddy come back to save us.
We hug him, don't want to let go
He carries me out to the sunshine
Where the sun has too bright a glow

Buildings are smashed and broken
toys and chipped plates at my feet
Cars burnt out, some still smoking,
it no longer looks like our street

Daddy talks much of freedom
a safe place till the end of the war
Then he'll come back and join us
it will be, the same as before

We walk with him to the station
don't want to go, but can't stay
Waiting for the train to safety
for us there's no other way

Then a boom, a loud explosion,
just as Daddy was kissing my head
Everything went dark and silent
I realise now that I'm dead

------?---?-------
I wrote this after hearing about the bombing at the Ukrane station and realised this could also be a child from past war or one in our own country in a future war. Its much darker than I intended but it shows how much worse war is from the perspective of a child

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Latest Comments

  • 2 years ago

    by Matthew Bird

    Milly, such moving thoughts and emotions, so beautifully expressed.
    Well done!

    • 2 years ago

      by Milly Hayward

      Thanks Matthew :) I really appreciate your comment and appreciation. Milly x

  • 2 years ago

    by Walter

    I totally agree with your thoughts and feelings and this poem expresses so many of them. How cruel it must be for an innocent child to face this trauma at such a young age in unimaginable. Great to have you back and writing again Milly x

    • 2 years ago

      by Milly Hayward

      Thankyou Walter. Its nice to be back. :) Milly x

  • 2 years ago

    by Michael

    Hello Miss Milly.

    Good to see you writing again. So much heartache in your poem, and war is dark and gloomy and can only be written with dark ink.
    So topical now, past and no doubt the future.
    Great sad and meaningful piece
    M :)

    • 2 years ago

      by Milly Hayward

      Thanks Michael :) it's dark times. For me it was the bomb at the station which just gave me no choice but to pick up a pen and write. Hope you are keeping well x

  • 2 years ago

    by Poet on the Piano

    Milly, really missed your presence on here and I definitely got chills. I cannot begin to imagine the fear, trauma, and effects of war, nor ever be able to put it into words. What I think about too is that a child doesn't understand war. I mean, can any of us fully comprehend it? And to many, what even is war? A necessary evil, a part of life, defending one's homeland? Is it such an established, complex part of history that, realistically, those in power will always find a way to overpower and dehumanize others? Is it naive to wish for freedom, or foolish to believe in an idealistic world where tyrants and dictators and oppressors are silenced, instead of doing the silencing? I also think everyone's definition of freedom may be unique and personal to them. Will true freedom ever be achieved in the way people want and desire and deserve?

    Hope you're doing well <3

    • 2 years ago

      by Milly Hayward

      Not doing too bad. Haven't been writing poetry so this is the first one in months. The issue lies in megalomaniac sociopathic leaders and weak puppets leaders gaining far too much power. We are doing a great job already destroying the planet without giving less than a handful of people a little destruct button that can end millions of lives. Sadly you can't reason with sociopaths or megalomaniacs all you can do is cut the head off the snake and hope that the rest of the snakes see sense. Xx

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