Mothers

by Liam Canniffe

They wore black then,
The solitary sign of the great grief
They would ever bear, years
After it faded from the minds
Of others, who did not suffer,
Or did not wish to recall
What had befallen those,
Who had left so young,
To fight another’s war,
Not knowing that in going
They would lose life,
Or never return to the home
They had so impetuously left.

Reproduced with the kind permission of the author. This poem features in the collection No Memorials – The Forgotten Irish (2015) by Liam Canniffe.