Sands Garden

You hear children scream and cry.
From the sadness in your heart,
You’re lying there ready to die.

You were the one
But now you’re gone.
I picture that look.
You had in your eye
And wonder why
You had to die.
My darling why,
Did you leave me to cry?
Why did you have to die?

Abi Wise and Alex Bullock (13)

 

Marching 1,2,3

As we march one, two, three,
What a sight there is to see.
As we think and ask ourselves, “Why?
Why God, must these people die?”
We sit, we listen and we hear,
“I’ve lost you now my dear.”
As we picture those that die,
A tear wells up in my eye.

Emily Harris (13)

 

Fifteen Thousand Names

Fifteen thousand names,
Peace they always wanted
And now we give it to them.
But war brought them
The peace they always hoped for,
Not in a rewarding sense.
Just through the irony of war.

Michael Wilson (13)

War Haiku

Beautiful gardens.
In memory of those lost.
We often forget.

Michael Wilson (13)

 

Artillery Garden

As I sit on the edge o’ the water,
Trees swaying side to side,
People gather to see this fantasy:
The Sun,
The tree,
The waterfall letting off life,

I take a step back to reality,
Take a deep breath.
What conflicts do there lie?
I think about these saviours souls.
Do they come back? To see loved ones?
Will they take a deep breath and inhale this paradise,
Where once they inhaled anger and hatred?

Sharmine Miah (13)

 

Obelisk

Reaching up to the sky, we approached the tall white pillar.
The sun was bright. Its golden rays on our faces beamed.
Closer and closer and the sun grew dimmer.
The Sun itself still suffered it seemed
From the war’s tragic and horrific losses.

We came to a vast, long wall of names, who 15,000 numbered
Of soldiers who did on duty serving die
As I stood surrounded thus, I wondered
To kill each other for our differences, why?
Why have war’s tragic and horrific losses?

Joe Martin (13)

 

Cairn Pebbles

A pebble can say a lot when it has a name and date on.
A significant memory of someone’s life.

15,000 memories packed up on a wall.
Brave soldiers’ lives remembered.
A bear, some statues and the plants
Soothe families torn apart by war.
All tragedies.

Something as small as an elegant water feature
 Can soothe away the noise,
Replacing pain with calm.
That is what makes it so special.

Charlotte Burton (13)

 

The Blood Still Drips

The blood still drips, if you listen
Down the bright, white walls,
Trickling through
The cracks that make names,
They are highlighted in crimson.
Rows and columns each spelling another life
Blown away and forgotten
With a sharp crack and a bang.
Uniformed corpses,
The last gasps of breath
Still present on their bloodless lips
Faint expressions of pain
Or anger or relief
Or nothing at all
A forest of young bones eventually
And then they are gone.
Nothing is left.
Apart from scratches on a wall and fading memories.

Lewis Bridgewood (13)

 

Noise and Peace

The blast of gunshots,
Loud and ringing,
In contrast with
The water’s singing.

The breeze through rushes,
A gentle wisp,
To calm the mind of
Terrorists.

The lilies on the
Pond are still
To counteract
The shell shots shrill.

The peaceful shade,
A sight of awe,
In defiance of
All thoughts of war.

The brightness of
The Sun at Noon
To heal the soldiers’
Dreadful wounds.

The ripples from
The waterfall,
Let’s stop the fighting
Once and for all.

Ryan Walker(13)

 

False Promises

The sad thing about the football game between the WW1 soldiers on Xmas day is that they still fought and killed each other on the days to follow. I hope it doesn’t happen again.

 

They came with their sweet, seductive promises
Of fame, of fortune and of valour.
But they lied
And the blood runs in rivers.

When we get there, bullets light the night.
They fall both men and women.
Over the bodies of friend and family they fight.
Lies let them die.

Blood red with a cold heart.
Tears present in rivers, dripping from our cheeks.
Gone forever, the lies and
The numbers of the dead increase,

Leaving us behind. The poppies
Show our sadness and our loss.
They live on in memory, hoping no more will fall.
Let it be, they will not be forgot.

Jenny Orme (13)

 

Trench Warfare

British troops in the trenches,
Rats spreading disease,
Artillery guns pounding the enemy.
Over the top we go,
The German machine guns
Ripping our men to shreds.
Lucky ones find holes to hide in.
Medics knee deep in blood,
Stretchering the wounded off.
The gun fire stops.
They bring the bodies back.
It all starts all over again.

Alex Wood (13)

 

Present Peace

The peace, the quiet is a serene setting,
The water down the rocks trickling,
Splashing in a pond.
The wind chimes in the distance chiming,
Chiming to the rhythm of the wind.

Oh no, a shell has dropped.
Bang, boom, crash.
The big guns are roaring.
Shudders like the world has stopped.
Bluster, blaster, bash.
Everywhere shells are falling.
Shudder, splinter, smash
Into the high heavens exploding.
Thudding thunder thrash,
I’m hit and at peace at last,
No more to do the loading.

The peace, the quiet is a serene setting,
The water down the rocks trickling,
Splashing in a pond.
The wind chimes in the distance chiming,
Chiming to the rhythm of the wind.

UBIQUE QUO FAS ET GLORIA DUCUNT.

 

Burma Railway

15,000 people dead,
One for every sleeper
Survivor’s eyes hard as bone,
Where once joy and happiness shone.
Waving their relatives behind.
They came back thin in body and mind.
Barely alive.

Matthew Wheeler (12)

 

What Becomes of Us?

I see all the names of death from war,
The unborn children,
Men worked to death
And the rest of it.

It’s horrible.
It’s all horrible.
It makes me sick.
How can men do that to each other?
But there’s us.
The year 2008.
There’s billions of us.
So, what do we suffer?

There must be something.
It wouldn’t be fair otherwise
On the past generations.
Wouldn’t be fair.

Must be something.
Could be anything.
Lets just wait and see.
Wait and see.

Selfishness doesn’t come close.
It’s just wonder, that is all.
Let’s just wait and see,
What becomes of us.

Zoe Turner (12)

 

The Silent Garden

The waterfall quickly splashes down.
The wind blows through trees, setting wind chimes off.
Artillery soldiers would never hear this.
Shells exploding everywhere.
Gunfire heard all around.

The Siren Sounds

Bang, bang, bang.
Guns are going off
But then the siren sounds.
It’s Xmas and all shooting has stopped.
All get out of the trenches
With pictures of family.
A football game starts on the blood-stained battlefield.
The siren sounds again.
All back in the trenches.
Bang, bang, bang.
The war continues.

Dan Betts (12)

 

Names of Remembrance

I found millions of names today.
Like Robinson, Bailey or Kaye.
When I found the name Hancock,
I thought of time and tick and tock.

Then I found a Private McCormick,
I could never take the mick.
I also found my own name, Bate.
And I thought back to the German’s hate.

Then I thought of an emotion, Grace
And I also thought of the human race.
Then there was total silence.
Then, I said these two words, “In remembrance.”

All the pebbles in the garden
Want to give the war a pardon.
In the garden there is peace.
That’s where violence must decrease.

Corey Bate (12)

 

Artillery Garden

The surface of the still pool gleams,
As the sun brightly downwards beams.

The writing’s meaning’s very clear.
Remember men who showed no fear.

I set my mind back to the war,
Where soldiers march and airplanes soar.

Deadly bullets fly through the air.
Through men’s bodies, they savagely tear.

Soldiers lying in the trench,
Choking on the rotting stench.

The shells cause damaged minds and ears,
And with every death a mother’s tears.

All those guns and deadly violence
But in this garden is peaceful silence.

They died serving their country.
We will remember them.

Iain West (12)

 

Echoes

The peaceful, quiet and tranquil sounds echoed around relaxing you,
Compared to the eardrum bursting roars, sending you mad through and through.
Wind chimes and quiet tapping of the water, the peaceful rustling of the trees,
Compared to the continuous loud sound of cannon across all the seas.
Two totally different sets of sounds, dramatically different,
Commemorating the men who to war were sent.

Stephen Harrison (12)

 

Quiet

Bang, bang go the guns,
Smashing the ears.
Boom, boom, go the shells
And drip, drip go the tears.
But peace in the garden, all that I hear
Is the whistling of wind
And the drip, drip of water quiet and clear.
And I remember those men.
Who died for us back then
And just wanted to hear……quiet.

James Lowe (12)

 

Peaceful Silence

In this garden, there is peaceful silence.
No guns or bombs or bloody violence.
No bangs or shouts or noisy sounds,
Under a sky of soundless white clouds.

They fight for our country in glory.
If they survive, they’ll tell their story.
Told to people old and young.
I think their praises should be sung.
Now there is now no longer,
We count our luck and make ourselves stronger.

Alex Gibson (12)

 

The Sands

The names of unborn children lie inscripted on stones,
Placed delicately on the ground.
They never saw the Sun, nor tasted food.
They never smelt a flower.
Children that never saw the sky should not already live above it.
How many are there?
How many of them are now dancing with angels up in the sky?
Too many.
The Silence Echoes Round Me

The silence echoes round me,
Reminding us of the tragedy of war,
How much pain and suffering it causes.
The names of dead men imprinted on the walls.

Sitting in the garden on the soft grass,
Surrounded by plants,
I hear the rhythmic splash of water,
As the waterfall flows
The faint whisper as a light breeze drifts through the branches,
The soft melody of wind chimes, making music in the breeze.

Lizzie Shaw(12)

 

Names

On the eleventh hour,
Of the eleventh day,
Of the eleventh month,
The Sun shines through a gap in a thick stone wall.
It slices through another
And strikes a statue.

It makes you think of all the pain and misery caused in wars,
Of what all those men went through
And what they did for us.

Every word you speak echoes around the cold, dark circle.
Fifteen thousand names all engraved in its stone walls,
Remembered by relatives and friends who come and pay respect.

In the walls, secrets are hidden away
Never to be heard again.
Walking down the long, long path,
I feel like I’m going into battle.

Toni Ball (12)

 

Memorial Ghosts

The silence echoes round us like ghosts,
Trapped forever.
People just look at each other.
They don’t talk,
They don’t know what to say.
They are shocked to see how many people died.
Friends start to whisper in hushed voices.
I don’t feel like talking.
I’m too busy remembering people.
People who I don’t even know but am still extremely proud of.
Spirits of lost soldiers whisper all around me,
Telling me their stories.
Stories of the day they died.

Give Them Peace

Flowers sway in the morning breeze.
The waterfall trickles softly into the pond.
People stand in silence in front of the poppy wreaths,
As we remember all of those who were shell shocked in the war.
It is as if the whole world is silent apart from nature.
It is the most peaceful place I have ever been.

The things we take for granted now,
Silence and peace,
Were only ever in their dreams.
The cannon thundered day and night,
A living nightmare.

Once in a while, I wish they too could enjoy that same peace.
It becomes impossible to forget how much they gave for us.
They deserve our peace, our memories and much, much more,
Those soldiers who lost their lives, fighting in our war.

Lucy Wisher (12)

 

Monument

The silence echoes round the cold, stone walls,
The circle forever leading onwards.
Names after names after names, looking down on me from high above.
Whispers on the wind, like secrets untold.
Names unforgotten, however hard the past fades.
Quietly waiting the spirits pull me in towards them.
They died serving their country
But what else is theirs to hide?

The gentle rushing of water fills my ears,
Peaceful noises, graceful sounds,
Sunshine hits me with golden rays.
The waterfall with its lily covered pond
Soaking up the Sun and reflecting it back at me.
Bang, bang, bang.
I’m back. Crash, another bomb,
Aim and fire. Gunshots blaze into the trenches. We dive.
Green gas fills the air. Choking, we stumble out into a blaze of infernal blasts.
Where has the peace gone?
I never move, yet I keep seeping back.

So quiet, so still.
So many lives that never will.
Too fast too late.
The thing about life I really hate.
You’re not gone, not forever,
So many things you’ll see never.
How long shall I wait?
Until they open up the gates?

Pippa Hipkiss (12)

 

Remembrance

The cool breeze blowing on my face,
Making my garments rustle.
The sound of the water relaxes me.
It makes me feel quite special.
So many names throughout the years,
Now peaceful, hardly any noise at all,
Soothed by water trickling down
A miniature waterfall.

Wind chimes in the background,
Making it seem really calm.
So many plants, so many names,
Why did they come to harm?

So peaceful that it makes you think
I’m so lucky just to be,
Alive today and fit to say
They gave their lives for the country.

Becky Lyle (12)

 

In Loving Memory

An alder tree in the centre of a pond,
The gentle ring of a bell and
The relaxing trickle of a waterfall
Give you time to think and
Remember those who have
The peace dedicated to themselves and
The nature all around them.
In loving memory!
The smell of a lavender bush
Blends in with the fresh air.

A Union Jack flag laid down on a rock
Sways gently in the whispering breeze
Beside poppies and crosses stuck into the soil.
Notes of remembrance lie there with them.
Someone must have had to place it down that down
With courage yet sadness.
Memories of their childhood which will never be seen again
Laugh and smile only in their head
Lost without them.
“We will remember them.”
“Dedicated to all who served with the Royal Artillery.”
Bean
“Bean: Forever in our hearts now, you jump and dance in the stars.
Love Mum and Dad
Walk with the angels
Love and Nan and Grandad”

Pebbles with notes lovingly etched on them.
From parents and grandparents without their sons or daughters.
Losing people, a half, a quarter, a fiftieth of our age.
How must they feel?
Forever grieving with scarred hearts.

Life is cruel.
Make the most of it you can.
Take everything as it comes.
Then make it better.
Make the most of today, this hour, this minute.
What will happen tomorrow?
Nobody can know.

Laura Kedwards (12)

 

Every Bullet, Poppy, Life

Every bullet tells a story of death and desire.
Every bullet loaded and ready to fire.
Every bullet can take a life.

Every poppy tells a story of bravery, strength and hope.
Every ruby red poppy spreading and full of growth.
Every poppy is a life.

Every name tells a story of friendships broken.
Every name on a wall a loss and pain token.
Every name was a life.
Every person a sacrifice.

Tom Poundall (12)

 

Baby Garden

No baby cries for its mother’s loss
But lies there still and gone.
Though mother feels pain for its departure,
She knows its life would still have shone.

Burma Railway

The bang of hammers and ding of spades,
Aiding a slave man’s toil.
The Sun beats down on the condemned man’s back,
Melting his soul to the soil.

Jimmy Lead

 

Sands Garden

Baby,
Fly with the angels,
Dance with the stars.
Dream on now, remember my words.
And live on in me.

We’ll always love you,
You’ll never fade
Stay close, don’t go.

War Memorial

We were inside a book,
With every year a new chapter,
Every new page filled with names lost in time.

Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters,
Lost in endless years of slaughter.

Chloe Hatton