THE POET\'S TALE
Early one Sunday morning, 4th. July 1976, I was walking, alone, along a road near Zonnebeke, West Flanders, Belgium, when I encountered
an English clergyman. When we spoke, he said to me \"Quo Vadis\" - so demonstrating his knowledge of Latin.
\" I\'m bound for Tyne Cot Cemetery\" I told him. He seemed surprised that I understood his question.
He explained to me that he had just visited the cemetery himself and, for a while, we exchanged views on the horror of the First World War.
He then asked me if I had anyone at Tyne Cot. I replied to him \"Yes - all of them\".
ASJ, July 4th. 2016
This poem is dedicated to 75580 Pte. Frank Stanley Jeeves (1894-1961), Tank Corps (Machine Gun Corps),
who survived the 1914-18 conflict, and also to his 5.5 million comrades who, alas, did not.
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Quo Vadis ask I
Upon this sabbath day;
To Hell, you reply,
Won\'t you show me the way.
Walk with me a while
And my tale I will tell,
It\'s many a long mile
But a path I know well.
You\'re a soldier, I note,
From your bullet holes,
Though you don\'t have the vote
You have killed many souls;
So young, you may be,
I assent this is true -
I\'m a general, you see,
I\'ve killed more than you.
I\'ll kill men I know
Ere this grim day ends;
I\'ll vanquish the foe,
Sacrificing my friends.
I\'ll demand Who goes there,
As I shy from a bomb,
I\'ll make war from my chair
This black day on the Somme.
I\'ll send you to fight
(As bold as I am)
I\'ll send you, all right,
I\'ll not give a damn.
I\'ll command you to shoot
As you storm through the mud...
I won\'t give a hoot,
I just won\'t see the blood.
I\'ll dispatch you to kill,
You\'ll go over the top;
I\'ll send you at will
Because I\'ll never stop.
I\'ll commit you to strive,
As you charge through the rain;
If you come back alive
Then I\'ll send you again.
Now your own end is nigh -
Your last moments on earth.
Your cross I\'ll supply
As that\'s all you are worth.
So, heed my words well
When I pledge you this oath...
I\'ll greet you in hell
For there\'s room for us both.
ASJ