Over The Top!!!

Viking434

They come in great veils,
all with smiles on their faces.
They march with honor in mind,
they reach the trenches and shock crosses each life,
like the trigger of a gun.

They find their spot to sit in sludge of the earth,
feet rot in the wet.
They weep, realising that war is dark,
like a never ending storm,
crossing the days and nights.

They sleep in dug-outs,
like moles in the ground.
Constantly bombarded by enemy artillery.
They hear the screams of dying men through no-mans land,
the clatter of machine guns over head.
Ever so often they hear loud snips,
as their fellow comrades are picked off by snipers.

Then everything goes silent,
no more shells falling,
making craters in the ground.
No more death....

And then,
the leaders of this regiment call up the men,
they speak of cowardice is death.
Everyone prepares to go over the top,
with their rifles loaded and bayonets sharp.

Three minutes to go,
few look terrified and start to cry.
Then....
The whistle blows and all hell breaks loose,
the sound of bullets ring out again.

Men fall,
like leaves blown off trees by the wind,
death is all around,
no man is alive.
Silence will fall.

End.

  • Author: Viking434 (Offline Offline)
  • Published: June 25th, 2016 14:05
  • Category: Sad
  • Views: 15
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Comments +

Comments1

  • BRIAN & ANGELA

    WELCOME VIKING ~ Thanks for your first poem and a very poignant reminder od the pointless sacrifice of life in the Trench Warfare of WW1 (1914 - 18). Personally I agree with the words of Alfred Owen who died in France on 4 November 1918 ~ one week before the War ended. Owen wrote "My friend you would not tell with such high zest # To children ardent for some desperate glory # The old lie # DULCE ET DECORUM EST - PRO PARTIA MORI. It is sweet and beautiful to die for one's Country. Thanks for sharing ~ BRIAN



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