A local writer has penned a tribute to soldiers who fought in World War I and World War II, highlighting the psychological toll of conflict.
William ‘Bill’ Sewell said he first wrote the poem Welcome Home Digger in 2015, but only recently found the right words to make it feel truly complete.
The poem draws on Bill’s connection to the Anzacs and explores the hidden damage many soldiers carried upon returning to Australia.
“My dad was in the Navy in the Second World War, and we used to always, as kids, watch the Anazac Day parade on television. That resonated with me,” he said.
“A lot of the Anzacs came home ― and in the Second World War as well ― and had physical injuries which may have healed, but some of those mental scars never healed.”
Bill said he never intended for the poem to be read by anyone else, but he was motivated to honour the soldiers by not forgetting them.
“This is just something I felt from my heart,” he said.
More broadly, Bill said writing became a way for him to cope with life’s challenges over the past few decades.
He grew up in Echuca and attended local schools, undertook tertiary education in Bendigo, and later moved to Melbourne for more employment opportunities.
Working across various industries, including in the Victorian public sector and aged care, Bill eventually met his future wife, Paula, in his mid-40s.
Throughout this time and afterwards, Bill said he got into the habit of writing, and has amassed more than 175 original poems across the years.
“I continued to write because I thought it was a good way to express how you feel about the world and your place in it,” he said.
About five years ago, Paula and Bill returned to the area for a tree-change, choosing to call Moama home.
While writing has been a largely private exercise for Bill, he began seriously considering the idea of publishing work after joining the local Campaspe Murray Writers Group.
Bill is now working on a manuscript of selected poetry, which he said was not to earn him money or recognition, but in the hopes it may serve as a life-affirming document.
“I’d like to think that, just maybe, I can leave something to prove that, for a small sliver of time, I existed on beautiful planet Earth,” he said.
Below is William Sewell’s original poem, Welcome Home Digger.
Welcome Home Digger
There’s a few who drink to remember
Many more who drink to forget
Some so lost in their troubles
With their swag to the outback they get.
~~~~~~
They came home with bodies so ravaged
From the bullets, the bombs and the steel
But the holes in their hearts are so many
No woman, no lifetime can heal.
~~~~~~
No home exists that can keep them
No friends will erase all the scars
There’s no roof in the world to protect them
So their roof is the moon and the stars.
~~~~~
Go now, forget them forever
Return to your laughter and song
Sleep is their only salvation
In dreams they will always be strong.