The final sonnet of my ‘Forms of Love’ collection is dedicated to agápē or selfless love. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” – John15:13. (And I quote the bible as an atheist who recognises enduring wisdom.)
To others I could not live the life I love without Your sacrifice. I could not be the me I am if you’d not ceased to be. Yet doubt You thought of me when you fought to be free. Nor could you know fresh faces yet unformed – Preoccupied in land once occupied, Untroubled by the threat that your world stormed, Living fulfilling lives because you died. Though battlefields are littered with regrets No soldier croaks wishing they had not tried To carry on their ironed epaulettes The hopes of civil folk their country wide. Your selfless love is generations long There is no gift as great, no bond so strong.