|
Our parents said:
"Your philosophy must be different;
You must be sweet and hopeful and trusting;
You must be idealists.
We feasted on bitterness,
But we were the war generation.
Your philosophy must be different.
We saw men go,
Brave, stalwart, courageous.
We kept the home fires burning
And fed their courage
And sacrificed our illusions.
We welcomed them back
And then sweated blood
To buy their crutches and keep them comfortable
In the right kind of institutions.
We learned to live without them
And feasted on bitterness.
We were the war generation."
Things have been better for us;
We were too young to know the depression.
They tried to make up to us for what they'd lost.
We've been taught hope and faith and trust in a better world.
What are we to pass on?
Twentyfive years from now
Are we to say:
"Your philosophy must be different;
You can't judge by ours.
We were the war generation"?
|
