Home Front

[dedalus]

 

I am in love with the idea

of being in love, but I want

a quiet, respectable girl

who will not bother me

much, and not carry on

with other fellows.

 

It will be pleasant to come home

to a welcome kiss, an evening meal,

and I suppose she will need children

to keep her at home, you know,

and to make her act & think in a way

of who and what she is

 

and not run away, say,

with oneof those dashing Polish pilots,

since there are so many of the randy buggers

causing all sorts of trouble,

and not enough of them

shot down by the bloody Nazis

 

whom I don’t really care for now

in spite of my slight flirtation

with Mr Mosley, at a time when

British patriots were perfectly free

to form their own opinions

and could have stopped this war.

 

We should have fought against the French!

I remember them from the last time,

over on the Somme and in Flanders,

greasy horrible little men in faded blue,

and the locals behind the Front, selling

watered beer and their poxy daughters.

 

I will shortly arise and go

with my gas mask, cape, and helmet,

to bang away with my AA battery

and hit nothing, letting shrapnel fall

to kill or maim my fellow Londoners,

and keep quiet about my German lessons.

[Benjamin]

Your historical points emphasise the knock-on effects of human strife, personal and impersonal.

The “modern” idea of “total war” (where there are no non-combatants); evolved from the use of Zeppelin bombers in World War 1 on civilians. Subsequent generations and sophisticated technology have taken this much, much further into present day conflicts. If the universe is (as some believe) a living entity, then perhaps an astral dose of “penicillin” down here is long overdue. B.

[dedalus]

It's more than that, really. It's a quick take on the prevailing indecisions current at the time and how people didn't really know (1940-41) how things were going to turn out. I pushed things along to keep the narrative going, but didn't (I believe) go over the top!

[dr_con]

Truthfully, If you wrote a history book with your precise and formidable talent, it might revive the flagging interest in history! As always, superb.

 

 

Juris

[Benjamin]

It's a most perceptive piece (not over the top IMO) and accurately embraces the uncertainty and indecisions, which can still be picked up on in the way some cinema films were made during those turbulent times. I agree with Juris.. you have a precise and formidable talent. B.

[David W. Parsley]

Brendan, truly as I ready myself to resume going through my own attempt at historical reflection (i.e. Notes), I am a little intimidated by your period pieces. This is another one to keep me humble. Agreed with Doc. (Are you just getting better? Really!)

 

Very, Very Well Done,

- Dave