JULY FIRST 1916

Its 7.20 am
Time for a smoke
The young men share
A few risque jokes
Never seen battle
Or visited Hell
Its July the first
Day one of the Somme.

Its 7 29am
Cigarettes out
The officer prepares
Whistle and shout
Bayonets fixed
Steel prepared
Now reality
Becomes scared.

Shrill the whistle
Men climb the trench
Most fall back
To Heaven sent
Last thoughts of home
Mothers wives and child
Lets waste a generation
Forward men charge.