 |
| Memoirs of a Civil War Veteran, Photo Montage © by Ruth Zachary |
World War I
I have seen enough of one
war never to
wish to see another. Thomas Jefferson.
The reality
that a war could envelop
the whole world was a shocking realization.
Concern over the World War
superceded the normal superficial barriers
which separated the village into religious clans.
It drew the community together,
and common cause brought women together
who had never socialized before,
to make bandages, to collect clothing
or to raise funds. Ava became better acquainted
with other village girls during this ominous time,
in ways she never had during the optimism
of the previous decade, or in the hopeful climate
of neighborhood games or at school.
Her first cousin Isla spent a lot of time with her.
Isla and Ava had made a scrap book on W.W.I,
Together, they clipped all the oppressive news
of local boys and of all the major war events.
They sang war songs together at the piano.
Ava wrote an essay in school about the benefits
of the army upon young enlisted men,
regurgitating views and attitudes in the papers
justified by political pundits, and military experts.
I wonder what she might have written, had
she interviewed Alfred Bowers about the war.
From Theories of Relativity, Stories, Letters, and Poems
About Family,
© by Ruth Zachary,
Published by Xlibris and available on Amazon.
No comments:
Post a Comment