Peace on the Front Line

Emma Briggs
Published in
1 min readMay 29, 2019

--

We listen to trees on the front line.
We plot the campaign.
We creep through the night
to launch our attack,
stand against the insurgent.
We train, keep watch,
remain vigilant
always,

yet, our soldiers are not
young men hypnotised by glory
or daydreams of violence.
In our army, menopausal women
and teenage daughters
negotiate with students,
future politicians,
an old man or two,
but not one general.

We have come all this way
because our usual days
did not contain
the momentum needed
to win the war.

Here our actions are direct,
our bodies across the line
to stop coal in its tracks,
delay the burning,
cost them dollars,
one day here and later another,
relentless
for our tomorrow.

--

--

Emma Briggs
Lit Up

Australian writer, environmental activist, hang-gliding assistant & former sailor, journalist & clown. Poetry collection available now. www.emmabriggs.net