Today is Armistice Day, or Remembrance Day, so I have written a poem in honour of what the day represents. We all know that the war to end all wars did not succeed; but in Jesus Christ there is a prospect of true peace one day soon.
This poem is also my experiment with anapestic meter: the reverse of dactylic, two unstressed beats followed by a stress. The word “anapest” means “strike back”, but today we remember the end of all striking, so I decided to play with that tension in this poem.
The End of Striking (Anapestic Foot)
In the fields spread the poppies, blood red as the war,
But the violence of trenches is heard of no more.
Hear the trumpets now calling the troops to the fields
Where the striking of cannons fades out now and yields.
Hear the armistice, sounding the war to end wars,
Has now struck up its last post, made even the scores.
See the prince of peace walking across the red fields.
He has laid down his armour; we have put down our shields.
Only this can end all wars or sound armistice:
That the perfect one, struck down, has risen with peace.
The Consolations of Writing 