Flanders Endured

A wondrous pastoral scene Green fields and meadows Woodland and hedgerows Unchanged for centuries A beautiful place, a safe place Then came war’s unkind caress Which swept away the green Repainted the pastoral scene In shades of brown And turned everything to mud Tree trunks devoid of branches Stood like rows of rotted teeth In the mouth of hell The fetid stench of detritus Filled the air All this did Flanders endure The blood, the mud, the tears For four long years Now another kinder hand Has touched the land And colour has returned From the paint box of peace