Legacy Where once we listened to the boom Of distant cannon wheeled in place; And times beneath a bomber's moon We stood and watched the searchlights trace Their careful webs against the sky, While miles away on Munich's squares Bombs tumbled down with shrieking cries, With sounds and flashing blasts unpaired... We turn our eyes upon the gleam Of snow-capped mountains touching clouds; Our ears toward the noisy stream Of season's crush of glacier crowds. A dark, persistent smudge of pine Replaces smoke that once hung low; The shadowy forms of cattle line The furze instead of cannon rows. Where once in raids the maimed and killed, The lost, forsaken, and confused Were left in ruin, pained or chilled, Now people laugh and smile bemused. How hard for us on memory's path To look and listen, yet not hear Nor see the madness, evil's wrath Once plied by men of faith and fear. (C) 9-21-95 Charles Sielert csielert@psd.k12.co.usBirth sign: Not entered
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