• Personal

    In the trenches – a poem

    WWI trenches

    In the trenches

    Reloading our rifles
    In the sludge-filled trenches
    Our hearts racing.
    When will our war end?

    Shells drop from the sky
    Nerves shatter and feet turn black
    Disoriented and weak,
    When will our war end?

    Crimson dye leaks from our wounds
    And trickles down onto the corpses below us
    My vision, fading to darkness.
    When will our war end?

    Fumbling to pull our helmets on
    As a green sea floods the trench
    Eyes shut, I wait for the impact.
    When will our war end?

    Chocking and drowning
    I plummet to the ground
    And watch as my friends stare hopelessly.
    My war has ended…

    By my son, aged 10