Poems by Laura Sanders

Big, pink fluffy hearts could not convey
what you mean to me this Valentine's Day.
A card with fancy words saying, "I love you so,"
could not capture my thoughts, but I think you know
today just how much you mean to me,
without balloons, fluffy teddies, sentimentality,
or a fancy meal cooked with sparkling wine,
to say that you are "really mine!"

Instead, I'll gently kiss your lips,
hold your face, caress your fingertips.
Then you will know how much I really care,
that my life with you, I gladly share.
The joys, hopes, dreams will fade away,
but we'll be together, as we make our way
down through life's pathways, hand in hand,
with our precious love that is truly grand.

I gaze at you with welling tears.
We have been husband and wife for over fifty years!

They sacrificed their lives, entered the gates of hell,
Onward they stumbled, while all around them fell,
War weary, ragged, faces dirt encrusted, black.
Impatient for the whistle, ready for attack.

In their hearts burned everlasting hope,
Carrying love letters and handwritten notes,
Tiny mementos and gifts tucked into pockets,
As shells blasted like exploding rockets!

They died as all good soldiers die,
Hoping for a better world for you and I,
Wanting to set the world free,
But many would shudder if they could see

The selfish world we live in today.
Would they be pleased with its uncaring ways?
Because "for our today, they gave their tomorrow,"
So let us be grateful, not wallow in sorrow.

Let us make their sacrifice worthwhile,
And help each other with willingness and a smile,
For at our darkest hour, our country they did save,
With their lives, which they so bravely gave....

I would be enthralled at the stories the ocean could tell,
about explorers and adventurers that traversed its swell,
of the lives lost in shipwrecks and of pirate tales of old,
and legends passed down through generations, told.

The ocean is mysterious, enchanting us all,
and contains many strange creatures both large and small,
a vast body of water, we challenge with our might,
sail our boats across, battle it by day and by night.

It changes character, furious brooding one minute,
next it is calm and serene, then we can overcome and win it!
But when I see its rolling, crashing waves,
I am glad I am on terra firma, as it's stability I crave!

Let me go, release me like a flying kite.
Let me go, let me fade, like day turns to night.
Watch me sink, like the deep orange setting sun.
For 'twas a sunset of dreams I once provided for everyone.

Let me go, the person I used to be,
For I'm no longer her; I've changed to a new me,
Someone who is forgetful and confused with time and place.
Soon I will not recognize you, may not even know your face.

Let me go, remember the good times we used to share.
Just hold my hand and show me that you care.
As we venture onwards, my love to you I send.
Our love will keep us going, as I near the final bend.

The end of the world has come,
it is hopeless to hold just a gun!
Do not want your sadness and pity,
when the Russians shell our lovely city!
Just make a no fly-zone,
"Seal the skies", give us airplanes and drones,
Tanks and missiles, here are the norm,
Putin will pay for this storm!

I watched  as our cities crumbled,
saw the menacing tanks, as they rumbled.
Oh Lord, I can't see how we can win now,
with our few weapons, anyhow?
How can we get out of this mess?
Each man is being put to the test....
We are outnumbered, ten to one,
The end of the world has begun....
So I stand here alone quietly pray,
praying for help to come  our way.

My son will be fatherless , I feel bad,
He will grow up and feel terribly sad.
He will always remember this hideous  attack,
how Russia turned on us,  how we tried to fight back.
Dad was a hero , in the Ukraine-Russia war,
but a tear will come, when he thinks what was it for?
It is a David and Goliath affair, make no bones.
Will we win though, with just a few stones...?

With pride, I fumble hopelessly, trying to pin medals on my chest.
No one knows what I went through, as war, I really detest!
The grime  and desperation, I witnessed with these blind, tired, old eyes,
men really suffering, many falling and bleeding , many wounded, died...

We retold stories to each other, tried to keep up our morale.
Me and my soldier friends, Tommo, Bernie and Johnny, my pal.
But all anyone can see now, is an old worn out geezer, hobbling along,
trying to display his medals, just trying to belong...

In my head, I hear the shouts and cries , the piercing cries of my name.
The anger, wells inside me- who really back then, was to blame?
So, I'll just pin these medals on , and walk in  solemn gait,
remembering in stunned silence, all my long since passed away, mates...

Tell me,
what do you think, when you look into the sad, pleading eyes,
of those who go hungry and cold?
What do you think, when you look at the man shuffling about in the street,
limping, tired and old...?
Carrying a bottle of booze, grimy , worn coat, holes in his socks, and
his shoes.

What do you think , when you look into the big eyes, of the African kids,
pot-bellied, desperate for any food?
What do you think, when you see an abandoned dog, tied up,
by the side of the road?
Or a donkey crippled with overgrown hooves, can't walk, let alone carry
any load?

What do you think of those orphaned, alone, wishing they had family?
We are so lucky, we have friends, and family, someone to look after
you and me.
Just think of the hungry and abandoned in this world, as the time goes ticking by...
These are the things that we should care about, or we may as well, just sit
down and cry...!

Such horror faced by the allied troops,
Such bravery in the face of the foe.
Witnessing young lives, mown down by gunfire,
Such terror, thank God, we will never know....

For the liberation of Europe was won
but at a price to men, from all sides.
American ,French ,Canadian ,English .
Red bloodied land, crimson red tides.

I am humbled when I think of the sacrifices
Men made, the sixth June 1944 is now history.
Heroes fighting for their country,
To free us from the Nazi tyranny.

In Normandy the graveyards are bursting
White headstones , display lives cut down by war
Today we must always be grateful,
We must remember them, for evermore.

"Let this never happen again !" the survivors say
Tears and sadness wells, in their faded eyes.
As they think of their fallen comrades
Who died on the beaches,  in the sea and skies.

A single red Poppy is all I wear to commemorate the dead.
A single red Poppy is all I wear, it's clothed in scarlet red.
Curled up at both ends, torn by Remembrance day,
but without it how would I show, I cared about the sacrifice, they made.

Swathes of Poppies today, are found in Flander's lands,
where bodies once bled in the mud - it's hard to understand!
Why men must brutally fight one another, in order to win a war?
Countless lives lost to a cause, just to settle a score.

But just what were those men really  fighting for?
For freedom and peace to reign, across our lands once more.
So that simple, red Poppy is important, for us to wear.
We can all show our support for soldiers today- show we all do care!

A young fit man, when he went off to war,
but as soon as I saw him, close that door,
I knew he would never be the same,
'cause war it ruins, wounds and maims.

When I saw him again, his hands trembled, shook.
His face looked haunted, with anguished look.
Now and then, he cried out, in mental pain,
I knew he'd come back, never being the same.

In the depths of the night, he cried out a name,
woke up sweating, said it's happening again!
A cigarette, would calm his broken thoughts,
alone he sat, feeling out of sorts.

I knew that he had P.T.S.D,
so I took him for a stay, in the Welsh country.
To a place where birds sang and fresh rivers flow,
a place of solitude, only peace would know.

In the woods, he sat with other friends,
chatted, slept in tents, til the evenings end.
They learnt bush craft, and how to survive,
making campfires and fishing to stay alive...

Slowly he got better with his fragmented health,
began to improve, 'til he had mental wealth.
Now, he is an instructor, teaching others bushcraft
and I'm glad I took him, to find that longed for, life raft.