To a Fallen Soldier

In the depths of the trench, a soldier lay,

Where war's relentless grip held its prey,

His youthful face now, a visage of despair,

Haunted by the stench of death in the air.

In the wake of battle's cruel refrain,

He navigated through a quagmire of pain,

No heroes adorned these blood-soaked lands,

But piles of corpses, reeking in blood's demands.

The horrors witnessed, a grotesque sight,

Limbs entangled, the horror’s twilight,

Bodies mangled, torn apart by the fight,

A banquet for vultures, a gruesome delight.

No respite from the chaos, the ceaseless fight,

He waded through quagmires of blood and mud,

Where screams merged with the agonised cries,

As life drained away beneath blood-stained skies.

The cadets he once held dear,

Now a chorus of whispers, terror and fear,

In the trenches, comrades turned to spectres,

Their vacant eyes, reminders of life's ruptures.

Despair, a merciless beast, gripped his soul,

Its talons sinking deep, devouring him whole,

Lost in the abyss of war's malevolent sway,

He teetered on the edge of sanity's decay.

A soldier's life, a grotesque parade,

Where dreams dissolved, and hopes betrayed,

Promises shattered, like shards of broken glass,

In this theatre of horror, where nightmares amass.

Alone in the darkness, his spirit frayed,

Haunted by the echoes of lives betrayed,

No understanding, no respite from the strife,

He trudged through the abyss of a torturous life.

And so, in the silence, a tragedy unfolds,

A soldier's spirit crushed, his story left untold,

Life extinguished, a vessel swallowed by despair,

Lost in the depths of war's relentless snare.

But let us remember this fallen son,

Whose tortured existence can never be undone,

In the depths of despair, he fought his own fight,

A casualty of war's unyielding might.

May his sacrifice serve as a haunting plea,

To end the cycle of mankind's cruelty,

Where innocence is slaughtered, and hope is slain,

Leaving only devastation, a world steeped in pain.

For in the trenches, hearts lie broken and still,

Amidst the ruins, where darkness instills,

Let us strive for a future devoid of this dread,

Where fallen soldiers find solace in a peaceful bed.