every mother knows

March 12, 2026

10 hours

Don Defenderfer

Far across the sea

The war goes on

I lie here with my baby

I hope it won’t last long

The guns they bark and bite

Brave young soldiers fight

I hold my love in my arms

I hope it won’t last long

They say today one hundred died

No mention of the women who cried

I sing my child a little song

I hope it won’t last long

Every mother knows

Every death is another son

Every mother hopes

Today won’t bring her one

Every mother knows

Every war is wrong

Every mother prays

That this one won’t last long

Come, walk with me by the sea

Hold me….

Child come along

Let us pray it won’t last long

There’s thunder in the sky

Mother Earth sighs

Oil slicks and bombs

I hope it won’t last long

Far across the sea

The war goes on

I lie here with my baby

I hope it won’t last long

Don Defenderfer

Don Defenderfer is a native of San Francisco who once went on a holiday to Alaska where he met an Australian who told him to visit Tasmania. So he did, and while here he met a woman. That was 40 years ago. He was state coordinator for Landcare for many years, a job that allowed him to be inspired by not only the beauty of the Tasmanian landscape but by the many people that are trying to repair and renew it. He has a Masters Degree in Social Ecology and a Bachelor of Environmental Studies with a minor in writing. He has published three volumes of poetry, and his work has appeared in newspapers and periodicals, including The New York Times and The Australian. Two volumes of collected essays and poems, Tasmania: An island dream" Parts 1 and 2 can be bought through the Forty South Bookshop."