VE Day

by Paul Francis, with image by Laura Moore

After it’s over, time to pause for breath.
It takes some working out, the “what comes next?”
The grim familiarity with death
can not be cancelled with some pious text
and we don’t want to end up like before.

Yes, it was give and take, but too much give
from us, and too much take from them; the war
exposed that gap, and we don’t want to live
as nodding donkeys, doing as we’re told.

We’ve done our bit, and now we want our say
in sorting out the future. When we’re old
we want our children to create a better day,
using a fairer portion of our wealth
to build foundations for the nation’s health.