We Died Believing

[MacUinseann]

Take me now
to the last shattered memories of summer
Where hearts fell slain
to days awash in blinding light

Tell me now
those things we saw but all too clearly
Our strength washed away and bathed in fire
Eyes of stone, as resolute as eternal pain could cast them
Gaze forward
and in frustrated tears do falter

The end of young belief we saw
the one idea we thought would remain eternal
Our love in ashes, our faith in winter
We struggled on because we could not but help to do so
We carried on
through bloody fields of endless battle
through the death of friends and treasured beliefs abandoned
Because in these darkest depths
we found we still believed
in these the hearts of summer

[Dew]

waking up to the truth of life is a startling experience...but fades in significance as worse truths open to us. Enjoyed reliving my old experiences here...welcome to TPS if I haven't already said so! Hope you find a home in the sanctuary! - dew

[candlewitch]

hello,

in addition to what Dew has written, I would like to add; these are my favorite lines:

We carried on
through bloody fields of endless battle
through the death of friends and treasured beliefs abandoned
Because in these darkest depths
we found we still believed
in these the hearts of summer

welcome!
always, Cat

[JASON]

I like it but I don't understand it at all...
The themes of war and the death of belief are strongly portrayed -
nicely done Mac!

[WriterMinuit]

"We struggled on because we could not help to do so". For me this was a powerful line (a quotable one if I may say), that formed, for me, the epitome of the title and theme: a reflection on defeat that nevertheless held a valiant effort to soldier on. Battle imagery in the final stanza sustained this. But what I especially loved about this poem was, despite the premise of the poem being one of 'we gave it our all', the tone was more uncertain. There was an urgent plea in the tone- a plea for conviction- as if the speaker himself was not fully convinced all efforts had been spent. This self-doubt and need for confirmation came across most strongly in the 'tell me now' refrain. A haunting nostalgia, which spoke strongly to me. Absolutely loved it.

[MacUinseann]

Thank you all for your comments. I wrote this piece back in 2010, posting it to this very forum in 2012. Its one of my favorite works and I just like to bring it out once in a while to see what everyone thinks of it. I apologize if that's against our rules (if that's the case, let me know), but thank you once again.

[INFPoet]

I'm not sure what to say to this, because it is overwhelming. The last lines especially. Is it about anything in particular?

[kasey91]

This is a very beautiful solemn piece! It gave me alot of vivid imagery almost as if i was within the poem. Job well done!

[Versus]

We Died Believing

Well, at least you died. I myself am still alive having to endure Oprah. There is love in you, and I needn't tell you, love hurts, for only then it is real. Thank you.

[INFPoet]

Somehow to me this has a very British feel to it. Probably just because I love ancient Britain, but it makes me somehow think of King Arthur in Stephen Lawhead's 'Pendragon Cycle' trying to keep out the Picti. They were in dire straits, but even when they were losing hope they "struggled on because [they] could not help but do so". You can feel a surge of passion beneath the words, barely contained. And at the same time I seem to picture ancient battles I can hear the words echo in my own life today. I don't know, I just have a thing about analogies and parallels - especially because we all know love is a battle. The last lines are especially haunting. Yes, it is truly an overwhelming piece! Da iawn, da iawn wir, Irishman!