LONG TIME IN THE DARK
Updated: Nov 18, 2022
Suddenly
No time for fear
No time to think
Man's running at me with a gun in this trench
Stopping to aim
Forget the stink
Throw myself to mud and slime
Pull dagger from its sheaf
I'm on him in an instant
Neck blood spurting on my cheek
Lie back exhausted
Haven't slept a wink
Shells overhead all week long
Earthquakes 'neath my feet
Another helmet approaching
Bayonet on his gun
He screams and runs towards me
No bullets left no place to run
Axe pulled from my belt
Swung hard hits bayonet
I pull hard swing it round
His head flies off
Bounces onto my chest
As someone calls my name
A whistle...
Signalling their retreat
Another round of dog tags
Another friend a line
On admin sheet
Around seventeen million died
During my World War One
Then armistice so fierce
Caused a welcoming to Hitler's drum
World War Two took over
Fifty million lives
As so many made and lost money
Arms and power deals either side
Annual Poppy remembers
Men who stood against false rules
And you don't teach history
How to stand against warlords
Businessmen and fools
So through ignorance
History repeats itself
As propanganda flows
Arms dealer want money
Men want glory - power
Politicians want votes
So I say a prayer here from my trench
As a bayonet pierces my heart
Read history
Remember me
Don't let
World War Three...
Start
Do the maths do the calculations
Think of sons who will go to die
Will it be one hundred million
Men and women like me
Teenagers giving their lives
For people who sit back well fed
In their Empire building rooms
Seeking money glory or
A freedom story their view of right and wrong
As they stop their population
Objecting to what they know is wrong
Or promulgate state opinion
Through a new rainbow song
So I am now long gone
With my story sad and stark
Remembrance Day to remind you
Of freedoms won and
To take heart
To stir you to light fires
For decent honest true
To fight for what you believe in
For what blood has won for you
So do you dare for your homeland
Stand strong to leave your mark
Before another Western Front surprises you
Leaving teenagers like me...
A long time in the dark
Image, Brand, Text © 2022 - NICKSTIR (Nicholas Mark Slater)
Remembrance Day - 11 Nov 2022
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