Poem: They fought for peace, we threw it away
he fought & suffered
weathered life's struggles
burdens carried stoically
now keep alive his guiding hand
without the need to understand
paired with photograph of my father at his desk somewhere in Europe with the 8th Army.
He wasn't perfect
not by any means
For 3 years
he was a baby in a loving family.
Then he was a stepchild
suddenly
life was hard.
The there was the war
a blur
a life to be relived
a road travelled
over and over again
and life was hard again
in a different way.
For the longest time
When asked about him
I would try to explain.
But I only could tell
the mirrored image
of him
in my mind
and that was forever changing.
He suffered
we suffered
but I have come to know
it was an honest suffering.
Now when people ask
I tell them only
that he was my father
and that he loved us
in the best way that he could
and that I could only love him
when I stopped trying to understand him.
Artwork for contemplation only; a low-res copy of the original, unsuitable for commercial use, ©owner
Words & image ©ilinkcs (2026/01)
The early 20th Century
was hard
2 great & many minor wars
poverty
depressions
hardships
They had integrity
a familial symbiosis
I feel the lack of today
Shared suffering
looking out for each other
building a future
now gone astray
ALT=deets
#poetry #poem #tanka #stoic
#war #dad #life #astray