Lights Out

...1914..the lights went out across Europe and tonight we will also be turning our lights out at 10pm bar this single candle, to remember the fallen, those that sacrificed their lives for our freedom.

This is part one of a poem I wrote a few years ago, its a bit raw, but Ill post the other two over the next two days...

TRENCH PART 1

It was my nineteenth birthday yesterday
I didn't celebrate on my own
My twin brother James is here
Together we've loved and grown

It's been raining for endless days
All around is foul ... stinking earth
We are damp, ... cold and hungry
Our next door neighbour is death

The filthy rats are our friends now
The real ones are slowly dying
At the hands of General Haig
There is no solace in us crying

They lit a single match
And sang Happy Birthday
We all shared stale biscuits
No matter what, there's still camaraderie

We smiled and joked...
Slapped each other on the back
A single moment of normality
Before the artillery attack

It came without warning
When our guard was momentarily down
The shell exploded beside us
James was on the ground

I dropped my battered rifle
Held him in a tight embrace
His body had saved my life
But shrapnel disfigured his face

'I'll be alright, won't I?
Mother is expecting us tonight
She said she would bake apple pie
Perhaps tomorrow we could fly our kite?'

They continued to fall around me
As the rain of fire showered down
I held my dying brother
Amongst the decay and rats on the ground

This trench is where I'll die
It's hell upon earth
He sends in thousands more each week
Sending young men to certain death

He died in my arms yesterday
Burnt, weak and pale
It's a birthday I'll never forget
In the trenches of Passchendeal



(c) E Cameron 2011

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