War And Warriors - Paul Curtis (top ten books to read .txt) 📗

/> Before going to war to do the biz
Be sure before they’re sent to save the world
They re happy with the world the way it is


ON THE BLOODY FIELD OF BATTLE

Bright burnished copper shields
Shined bright as gold in the midday sun
Spear points glinted in the sun
Like a myriad of dancing fire flies
Silver lights blinked from polished
Buckles and embellishments
The clink of metal on metal
The snort of impatient horses
The barking of impatient sergeants
Leather creaked and strained
On soldier and beast
All the sights brought back to mind
Vivid remembrances
And the sounds spoke a familiar tongue
To the battle hardened
Anticipation dried the mouth
Almost as much as the dust
Banners fluttered lightly in the breeze
Some standing as tall as trees
And carrion eaters waited unseen
For the coming banquet
Then the battle commenced
With an ensuing cacophony
Many died quickly, painlessly
Not even seeing the fatal blow
Equally many died slowly
In agony from their wounds
Others lay on the bloody field
For hours and survived
Only to fight and die another day
The victors write the history
Of the bloody days events
The truth also lies dying
On the bloody field of battle


REMEMBRANCE FOR UNCLE JOHN
John Holt 1887-1916

“Your country needs you”
We heard Kitchener say to us
We took the Kings shilling
Without any fuss

Lads and Pals all marched
Crowds cheering jubilantly
Then crossed the English Channel
To halt the advancing enemy

The distant we gain in battle
Against the loss of a comrade
Is measured in inches at best
As we play out Hague’s Charade

We came as proud young men
To halt the invaders advance
Only to live and die
In the mud of western France


In the cloying mud of France
Once rich and fertile soil
No longer appears like earth
And now is as slippery as oil

The mud colours everything
Even we try and fail to stay clean
Mud has consumed the landscape
And hides the dead unseen

Subtle hints of another time
Some old Tree stumps remain
A jagged piece of wall sometimes
Will it ever be normal again?

Trenches have become home
Trench foot and rats our companion’s
Shellfire is our music hall
Mortars and rifles our musicians


We escape the daily horror
But only within our own minds
Where we explore familiar places
Far beyond the wars confines

The enemy are much like us
Their thoughts take them away
To a peaceful quiet land
On a peaceful quiet day

I sit in my muddy trench
My eyes closed to all but my wife
My sweet and beloved Tilly
The most important part of my life

Many fallen comrades lie
Where they fell upon the field
They saw no sense to fight
But still they refused to yield


After three long years
In the vile and muddy hell
I climbed out of my trench
And with my comrades fell


THEY FELL

They fell
Like ripened corn
Cut with scythe’s stroke
In seasoned hands
They fell
Like cherry blossom
Set free
By an April breeze
They fell
Like skittles toppled
By a wooden ball
Skilfully played
They fell
Like mighty English oak
Cut in thousands
To build the mighty fleet
They fell
Proudly and unwavering
Before their enemy
Uncompromising in their duty
They fell
Like the valiant
Cut down before their time
A generation forever lost


TOMMY

We walked towards the enemy
Hidden in the mist
That lay like a silent shroud
We picked our way
Across the open ground
Until the silence was broken
As overhead, a shell burst
Raining death and shrapnel
Knocking us to the ground
Throwing us hither and thither
Like skittles in an alley
Broken bodies lay in the Flanders mud
Of “no mans land”
Before me Tommy hung on the wire
His body vivid red
Cut from neck to groin
Even a baker such as I, knew
He was beyond earthy aid
“Shoot me” he pleaded
His face etched deep with pain
I knelt before him contemplating his request
Then his face relaxed
And he called out “mother”
Though not in pain or anguish
Not a cry for help, but a greeting
An exclamation of joy
As he was returned to her arms
War had diminished my faith
But in that instant it was restored
By a single death, my friend Tommy


I REMEMBER

I remember
Those with no future,
But only a gallant past
I remember
Those who never lived,
To enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice
I remember
Those who will be forever young,
Those who will never be old
I remember
When the sun sets on their past,
And rises brilliantly for our future
I remember
Father’s, sons and brothers,
Husband’s, friends and lovers
I remember
That lost generation of men,
Who went to war for our tomorrow
I remember
Poor man, gentleman and scholar,
Who stood shoulder to shoulder
I remember
Those who fell before the foe,
For a future they wouldn’t know


CRIMSON SNOW

Each November
We remember
At the Royal Albert Hall
And we remember

With dignity
With respect
They stand in silence
And we remember

In silence
Petals fall
Like crimson snow flakes
And we remember

Gently falling
They settle
Upon hat and tunic
And we remember


Each petal
Once a life
Floats in silent homage
And we remember

Red poppies
Springing eternally
From the bloodied fields
And we remember

Falling petals
Falling in millions
To recall the fallen
And we remember


H-HOUR

H hour approached
And we waited
Some men hummed
Tunelessly, nervously
Others muttered a prayer
A few were sick with nerves
Some shuffled from foot to foot
Some men were eager
Some reluctant
There was fear
And anticipation
Also a kind of excitement
Some knew this was their time
Yet no one faltered
They didn’t want to kill
Or be killed
But still no one faltered
The tension mounted
As the hour long barrage ceased
The guns fell silent
The sky cleared
And there was even birdsong
The shrill sound of whistles
Echoed through the trenches
And it was time
With the whistles still ringing in our ears
Up we went
Over the top
We covered half the distance
In silence un-resisted
Then still in silence
Men began to fall
At first only the zipping overhead
Of passing bullets was audible
Then crying and screaming
Then no one was standing
The generals, four miles behind the lines
Pointed at maps and read dispatches
As we lay in the mud dieing


RETURNING HOME

Through leafy glades we walked together
In the dappled shade beneath the trees, where
Spots of light chase each other frantically
As the soft summer breeze moves the treetops
As on the forest floor the patterns change
In some places shafts of golden sunlight
Burst through the canopy, like sunbeams
Sent down from god above to light the darkness
In the sunnier spots the blue bells dance
As if to entertain the travellers
The path leads us upwards into the light
Each step taking us to ever lighter skies
Until we emerge atop a green hill
We looked out across the land, England
And knew what we had all fought and died for
To save this land from the spoils of war


VENGEANCE WEAPONS

Vicious product of the conquered
Exploding on the unsuspecting
Not aimed at the soldiers
Generals or other men of war
Experimental weapons
Aimed not at military targets
Nor at the politicians that send men to war
Chariots of death
Exploding on the innocents
Wiping out whole families
Eliminating the non combatants
Aimlessly targeted at a city
People helpless to escape
Ordinary people doing ordinary things
Not foot soldiers on German soil
Spiteful vengeance of Hitler


THE RUGGED ISLE

The channel glistened
With silver strands
Beneath the early summer sun
Its waves broke gently white
Below the green topped cliffs of chalk
The sky of azure blue
Was clear and appeared limitless
But on the distant horizon
Storm clouds gathered
Though these clouds bore no rain
And would not bring a summer squall
Storm and tempest were imminent
The sky became filled with sinister formations
Like foreboding flocks
Of migrating duck or geese
But these were not of natures sending
This malevolent swarm
Scarring the clear June sky
These were of mans conception
Heading for England’s shores
To cross its wondrous tapestry
Spread casually across the land
Like a vast quilted patchwork
And when upon this landscape
Easy on the eye
Did the bombs of evil fall
Shattering the peace
Of our rugged isle
Splitting the earth
And breaking bodies
Its spirit did not break
Its people stood firm
Defiant in Satan's face
Withstanding hells fire
And brimstone smoke
And spat in Hitler’s eye


YPRES

Since that day
In that fateful campaign
When you stepped willingly
Upon that sodden Flanders field
And were gathered in
During that bloody harvest
Your future was no more

Since that day
In that fateful campaign
When you stepped out and fell
Upon that sodden Flanders field
And lay with silent comrades
During that bloody harvest
Your dreams were no more

Since that day
In that fateful campaign
When you stood and were counted
Upon that sodden Flanders field
And lay in the company of hero’s
During that bloody harvest
Your hopes were no more

Since that day
In that fateful campaign
When you were called to god
From that sodden Flanders field
With hordes of silent comrades
During that bloody harvest
You could love no more

Since that day
In that fateful campaign
Others lived to fight another day
From that sodden Flanders field
And when the cost was tallied
After that bloody harvest
The world was changed forever

Since the day the peace was one
Others ventured out in the world
And thrived in a world for ever changed
A world you helped to change
You could not reap the rewards
You could never again walk in the sun
Or Feel a cooling breeze upon your face
You gave your life for others futures
You fell to fulfill others dreams
Your sacrifice secured others hopes
Since you fell others have loved
And been loved in return as you could not
When you fell upon that sodden Flanders field
You sowed the seed of freedom
When the fragile seedling bore fruit
It changed the world forever


I MISS THE PLACE

I miss the place
Where I journeyed into this world
Where a loving mother
Kissed me and gently brushed my curls

I miss the place
Where mother taught me the joys of life
And my father
Taught me to seek harmony from strife

I miss the place
Where my school days first began
And those friends
That made up our inseparable band

I miss the place
Where my heart had an optimistic view
And I miss the face
Of my one and only love so true


I miss the place
Where summer days seemed without end
Where natures bounty
Spilled from the fields we had to tend

I miss the place
Where the bones of my parents lay
And the times
When our days were full with play

I miss the place
I knew before I grew into a man
And took up arms
To fight for the king in a foreign land

I miss the place
That is the home I shall never see again
Never smell the grasses green
Or taste those gentle summer rains


I miss that place
My distant home far