Poem To Llanrhyddlad War Heroes
by Alix Warren
(Bull Bay, Amlwch)
Llanrhyddlad War Memorial
Turn round and drive back onto the A5025 and turn left in the Anglesey village of Llanrhyddlad.
The memorial with its soldier leaning on his rifle stands outside Llanrhyddlad school.
A soldier leans on his rifle counting the names of the dozen valiant men of the parish who fell in the two great wars.
He has an uninterrupted view across Anglesey to Snowdonia, and beyond.
VISIONS
The church, gloomy as a Welsh wet Sunday,
Looms over the sodden fields.
Sheep huddle in a line, nose to tail beneath the wall.
Only artists delight in the dour day,
Further up the road the board school,
Grim in its century of memories
Stands in the shadow of the soldier.
Rain dripping down his cheeks.
Down the decades with sightless eyes
He has stared far over the mountains.
Throughout the years whilst leaning on his rifle
He has looked beyond the very rim of his world.
Does he see the lark rise over the
Trenches in France
As he drowns in a rancid mud-slide of lies?
Can he feel the jungle strangling
the very life out of his young body?
Can he taste the sand on the Dunkirk beach
Stopping his mouth?
Can he still hear the rumble of guns
Echoing down the valleys of time?
Did he die for this?
†
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