If existence such as this be life
Then, surely death be release,
And dawning after long night
Rather than cessation of all feeling, end of existence.
For alive in life, I am Death.
Bringing death to all, young and old.
Innocent and guilty, the weak and the strong;
Sowing the seed of destruction broadcast over the world.
How long then till one reaps the crop one has sown?
How long till the bringer of death meets his Master?
"He who lives by the sword, shall die by the sword..."
But what of he who lives by death by fire and steel?
By death-by-night, coming like the future thief of petty valuables?
"For the sword also means cleanness and death....."
But what of death by fire and flame and steel?
Of death by the rending and tearing of explosions?
By the destruction of homes?
By indiscriminate massacre.....?
Yea, what of he who comes by night?
Like the plague, furtively? stealthily?
Sometime, surely, in a dark slung story
I will feel the buffet
And hear the beat
Of the sable wing of the Angel of Death;
Death's worthy messenger.
Then shall relief flood my apprehensive heart
As long-feared, long-awaited Death comes nigh.
And I shall rejoice and salute my Lord and Master
For no more shall I cower in Earth's deep holes fearing his wrath;
No longer shall I perform his meanest tasks;
And with a heart light and a soul upraised
I shall go to a greater Life.
I found this poem in my father's briefcase after his death in 2010. It was in a book of poetry, hand written by his brother, Geoffrey Austin Turner. Geoff was a navigator who completed 46 operational flights against the enemy in WW2. He died in August of 1943 at the age of 23 years. His plane was shot down by anti-aircraft fire as it was returning from the target at Mannheim. It crashed in flames on the railroad, five miles due north of Boulogne, France.
My father often spoke lovingly of his older brother but he never mentioned this poem to me. To the best of my knowledge, it was written by my late uncle and has never been published.
