Flight Path

This week, my poem is a commemoration of the Battle of Britain. The "beat" of the poem bears a deliberate resemblance to a well-known hymn, but unlike that hymn, this is not an exultation of warfare as a model for religious belief, but a commemoration of bravery and courage, and thanksgiving to those who fought so bravely in the air for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Flight Path

Upward, bravest pilots, flying into war
Into the summer sky, clearest just before
Now filled with bombers, and a deadly foe
Flying into battle, against the fighters go

Victory roll in triumph, as the bombers flee
But that is yet to come, now the darkness see
Bullets flying everywhere, no one yet to praise
Soaring so high above, let your courage raise

Bombs fall in nightly blitz, people pray to God
Wrecked houses all in flames, as if the demons trod
But no surrender, all one body we,
One in hope and courage, one in bravery

Upward, bravest pilots, truest of the true
Against so many, here in conflict few
Long may we remember, men so fine and bold
Names never be forgotten, in legacy unfold

The survivors may yet perish, in old age feeble wane
But what they did for us, will ever still remain
Against such mighty odds, yet did they prevail
So much we owe them, because they did not fail

Upward, bravest pilots, long may you belong
In our hearts and souls, we sing their triumph song.
Days of glory past, of God save our gracious king
This through countless ages may we ever sing..