It’s time to go, Boys… #poetry

Spring
and the advent of war
birdsong floats on the air
seeks to banish despair:
what a season!

Birds on branches
issue a rallying cry
as if to say
‘It’s time to go, Boys:
Make new life

‘Save as many as you can
don’t be afraid to take a stand
don’t throw it all away for nothing 
don’t be afraid to let go
you know in your heart when it is right.’

Perhaps Spring is, after all,
the season of
conflict(ing advice)

A conflict poem

Of course, the invasion of Ukraine plays on many people’s minds at the moment, which is bound to be reflected in the things we write. I can’t hope to offer any solutions, so I thought instead about the kinds of conflict people on the ground might face. When to take a stand, when to run, when to make a sacrifice, when (if ever) to capitulate? These are not easy questions. Imagine your family’s life was at stake. No easy answers, only questions.

In other news

The EIF March 2022 Newsletter is out now: do sign up for all of my latest publishing news! I wrote it with a heavy heart given all of the above, but the show, and the (bird)song must go on:

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21 thoughts on “It’s time to go, Boys… #poetry

Add yours

  1. The contrast of war and the arrival of spring couldn’t be greater. There are always choices to be made, and we can only do our best to house wisely. (K)

  2. The show must indeed go on, Ingrid. At least such disasters unite people against the oppressor, in spirit, words and actions, and that in itself is something.

  3. Oh, I just pulled the newsletter out of my spam. Appreciate the mention on the novella! I was just listening to the birds sing out my window the other day and felt spring coming after a hard winter. There is such duality with springtime war. My bets are on love, always! ❤️

  4. Your timely poem is food for thought., Ingrid. A soldier or a citizen under attack in wartime makes many calculations moment by moment. Choices are made weighing loyalty to country with love of family, the value of one’s own life versus the greater good, whether to retreat and fight another day…It’s so much more than loud noises and sad images on the TV screen that make us want to change the channel.

    Thank you for continuing to write poems relevant to the Ukrainian invasion and the climate crisis. Poets should not spend all of their time in ivory towers.

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