A voice of one still laying in no mans-land. My paternal grandfather was with the 1st Lancashire Fusileers. He'd survived Gallipoli. He survived - the Somme! He survived Passchendaele - has did his three brothers! After The War - survivors! Not vets!
Last artillery shell fired
Five days and nights
The artillery had fired
None stop - fore days
Fore fiveive days a million shells fired
Now silence - only the sound
Of bird song - filled the air
Me - pals and me - talk telling jokes
some silant
Now the guns silent - now at long last
Last cigarets lit - smoked - tabs - eased
Our nerves - some - an issue of rum to take our minds of what were to come
We'd known each other all our life's
We all lived- in - to back to back terraces - houses
Zink baths hung on brick walls in the yard from nails
Out side privy - bog paper - old news papers torn into handy squares
Fore convenience sake
Hung nails ready fore use
Mum - dad - seven children - two bedrooms - not unusual
Terrace - two up two down rooms - kitchen - no bathrooms - old zink barth - did Us fore us all
Ramsgate - sands - highlight of the hot summer weekend
We'd all go - all those of the local cobbled streets - go together in mace
Just fore the day - clamber aboard trains - buses - to the seaside
To the sands - we'd all go! Together!
Then war broke out 1914 - the country - our country at war!
The call went out fore us to join up - join the ranks
Some did - so oh so many did - so naive - so innocent of the ways of war
Posters on the walls - appeared - Kitchners - face - your country needs you
We - found our self's in khaki - uniforms
All ages - some to old - others - to young - underage
We worked together - lived in the same streets together - trained together
wed each others sites - and our best to try to enjoy others sisters behind the gas works!
When to chapel - church - together - yes got drunk together - plaids games
Football - rugby - cricket - together
And all to soon - we'd - be dieing - together
Now we stood in a trench together - watches - ticking the seconds away
Now 7 25 A M - 7 30 - zero hour - that five minuets - were to be - the last five
Minetes - we had left to live - life - death - counted - down - by the death rattle
Of bullets!
Last orders given - '' fix bayonets '' - '' just walk - rifles at the slope ''
Now - it goner be a walk in the park - no Hun - goner survive all them shells!
Last of the rum handed out - even most temperance lads - paid up members
Took a drink of old army rum!
The lads - queued - at the ladders - shook hands wished each other luck
'' See you in Berlin - pal! '' Officers blew their whistles - up we went up and out
In too NO MANS LAND!
It were quiet - then hell all broke loose - rat a tat - of machen guns - crack of rifles
Men began to fall - some gave out grunts - shout's ' I've been hit , pal ''
'' HELP ME '' fore - fook sake help me '' none could help - staying a live
We had strict orders to obey orders! Anyway!
The main game - then
Pals - ether side of me fell - hit - by machen-guns - how - why I were not hit - just
lucky - I guess
Lad in front - I saw his brains come out - the back of his head - saw the bullet - That hit him - blood - so Much blood - bits of brain - saw another - sat - looking
Down in to his lap - at his guts - spieling out - in to hands - he look up - at - me
Then back down - funny - steam - came from his - spilled - guts
Saw - lads - legs cut off at the knees - some at the ankles - men cut in half - legs still moveing - arms - as if trying - to get bake up - to get the legs back - reattach - heads - freed from bodys - one head - seconds after leaving our trenches
Still had tab end - between the lips - smoke - from cleave neck came - escaped
Heads - disintegrating - in to mist of blood - brain gray tissue
Body's - body parts - littered the ground - arms - legs - torsos - harts - still beating
Eyes - staring - no longer - seeing - unblinking - eyes - hands - shot off - fingers
Opening - closing - as if trying to close around their rifle - that a minuet or so ago That hand at once held
Screams of the dieing - wounded - replaced - the bird song of that first of July 1916
The site was to much - I vomited - up the army rum - I'd - had manged - breakfast - bully beef - a tin mug of tea - it all came up
Doubled over throw up - doing that saved me life at least fore that momant
Just as I did - a machen-gun picked me out - ripping me backpack to shreds
I got me second win - picked up , me rifle - on I went - alone it felt - weren't many left
of us - that I could see!
Uncut wire - it's barbs - held us up - fooking artillery - supposed to of cut the fooking wire! Like fook they had!
Men hung - from the wire - shot to shreds of flesh and splinted - bone
I felt a sudden pain - in my shins - I fell down - I cred - out fore some one to help me - none came!
None came to my aid - my pleading - begging - a voice - just one among many that July morning
My blood - my life blood - seeped out - my life blood - ebbs - out - out in to the churned up soil
It took me hours to finally die - I died with so many others - many of us - have no Grave - we lay where we died! Time to time - some us are found - our bones that is. I see them - time to time - we wave to each other. At least they will have graves - some even are given back their names - only a very few - at that - : Known unto Go ' their grave marker says! What a con that is , I saw no God that July day , saw the devils work - I saw hell! Heaven , well , I never saw that! Neither did my pals that - day!
I've - been hear a hundred years now - and still cant work out why. I have tried - hear to recall - the times before - I ended up hear. What happened - to me and me pals - it's confusing - as you can tell. Maybe in another hundred years - it will make some kind of sense! Oh Ramsgate - sands - how I miss you so!
I were just eighteen!
ken d williams
The Dyslexic Wordsmith
The Somme - a serous number of battles - but really , the same battle. Started July the 1st - till the 18th of November - 141 days. Advance - a mater of 2 - 3 miles. Cost in lifes - 1.5 . The British and Empire - not far short 20,000 dead. Over 40,000 , wounded , the first day of the battle. The above story-poem , is a story of just one of the thousands who died , to lay in no mans land , never to have a grave , or grave stone. He like many , shot down , to lay all day , and night , bleeding to death. With the sound of those like he , screaming - whimpering , calling out for help , and to their mothers , as they died.
Poetry by ken d williams
Read 575 times
Written on 2016-07-01 at 12:09
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JULY THE FIRST 1916
Stood in the trenchLast artillery shell fired
Five days and nights
The artillery had fired
None stop - fore days
Fore fiveive days a million shells fired
Now silence - only the sound
Of bird song - filled the air
Me - pals and me - talk telling jokes
some silant
Now the guns silent - now at long last
Last cigarets lit - smoked - tabs - eased
Our nerves - some - an issue of rum to take our minds of what were to come
We'd known each other all our life's
We all lived- in - to back to back terraces - houses
Zink baths hung on brick walls in the yard from nails
Out side privy - bog paper - old news papers torn into handy squares
Fore convenience sake
Hung nails ready fore use
Mum - dad - seven children - two bedrooms - not unusual
Terrace - two up two down rooms - kitchen - no bathrooms - old zink barth - did Us fore us all
Ramsgate - sands - highlight of the hot summer weekend
We'd all go - all those of the local cobbled streets - go together in mace
Just fore the day - clamber aboard trains - buses - to the seaside
To the sands - we'd all go! Together!
Then war broke out 1914 - the country - our country at war!
The call went out fore us to join up - join the ranks
Some did - so oh so many did - so naive - so innocent of the ways of war
Posters on the walls - appeared - Kitchners - face - your country needs you
We - found our self's in khaki - uniforms
All ages - some to old - others - to young - underage
We worked together - lived in the same streets together - trained together
wed each others sites - and our best to try to enjoy others sisters behind the gas works!
When to chapel - church - together - yes got drunk together - plaids games
Football - rugby - cricket - together
And all to soon - we'd - be dieing - together
Now we stood in a trench together - watches - ticking the seconds away
Now 7 25 A M - 7 30 - zero hour - that five minuets - were to be - the last five
Minetes - we had left to live - life - death - counted - down - by the death rattle
Of bullets!
Last orders given - '' fix bayonets '' - '' just walk - rifles at the slope ''
Now - it goner be a walk in the park - no Hun - goner survive all them shells!
Last of the rum handed out - even most temperance lads - paid up members
Took a drink of old army rum!
The lads - queued - at the ladders - shook hands wished each other luck
'' See you in Berlin - pal! '' Officers blew their whistles - up we went up and out
In too NO MANS LAND!
It were quiet - then hell all broke loose - rat a tat - of machen guns - crack of rifles
Men began to fall - some gave out grunts - shout's ' I've been hit , pal ''
'' HELP ME '' fore - fook sake help me '' none could help - staying a live
We had strict orders to obey orders! Anyway!
The main game - then
Pals - ether side of me fell - hit - by machen-guns - how - why I were not hit - just
lucky - I guess
Lad in front - I saw his brains come out - the back of his head - saw the bullet - That hit him - blood - so Much blood - bits of brain - saw another - sat - looking
Down in to his lap - at his guts - spieling out - in to hands - he look up - at - me
Then back down - funny - steam - came from his - spilled - guts
Saw - lads - legs cut off at the knees - some at the ankles - men cut in half - legs still moveing - arms - as if trying - to get bake up - to get the legs back - reattach - heads - freed from bodys - one head - seconds after leaving our trenches
Still had tab end - between the lips - smoke - from cleave neck came - escaped
Heads - disintegrating - in to mist of blood - brain gray tissue
Body's - body parts - littered the ground - arms - legs - torsos - harts - still beating
Eyes - staring - no longer - seeing - unblinking - eyes - hands - shot off - fingers
Opening - closing - as if trying to close around their rifle - that a minuet or so ago That hand at once held
Screams of the dieing - wounded - replaced - the bird song of that first of July 1916
The site was to much - I vomited - up the army rum - I'd - had manged - breakfast - bully beef - a tin mug of tea - it all came up
Doubled over throw up - doing that saved me life at least fore that momant
Just as I did - a machen-gun picked me out - ripping me backpack to shreds
I got me second win - picked up , me rifle - on I went - alone it felt - weren't many left
of us - that I could see!
Uncut wire - it's barbs - held us up - fooking artillery - supposed to of cut the fooking wire! Like fook they had!
Men hung - from the wire - shot to shreds of flesh and splinted - bone
I felt a sudden pain - in my shins - I fell down - I cred - out fore some one to help me - none came!
None came to my aid - my pleading - begging - a voice - just one among many that July morning
My blood - my life blood - seeped out - my life blood - ebbs - out - out in to the churned up soil
It took me hours to finally die - I died with so many others - many of us - have no Grave - we lay where we died! Time to time - some us are found - our bones that is. I see them - time to time - we wave to each other. At least they will have graves - some even are given back their names - only a very few - at that - : Known unto Go ' their grave marker says! What a con that is , I saw no God that July day , saw the devils work - I saw hell! Heaven , well , I never saw that! Neither did my pals that - day!
I've - been hear a hundred years now - and still cant work out why. I have tried - hear to recall - the times before - I ended up hear. What happened - to me and me pals - it's confusing - as you can tell. Maybe in another hundred years - it will make some kind of sense! Oh Ramsgate - sands - how I miss you so!
I were just eighteen!
ken d williams
The Dyslexic Wordsmith
The Somme - a serous number of battles - but really , the same battle. Started July the 1st - till the 18th of November - 141 days. Advance - a mater of 2 - 3 miles. Cost in lifes - 1.5 . The British and Empire - not far short 20,000 dead. Over 40,000 , wounded , the first day of the battle. The above story-poem , is a story of just one of the thousands who died , to lay in no mans land , never to have a grave , or grave stone. He like many , shot down , to lay all day , and night , bleeding to death. With the sound of those like he , screaming - whimpering , calling out for help , and to their mothers , as they died.
Poetry by ken d williams
Read 575 times
Written on 2016-07-01 at 12:09
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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Kathy Lockhart |
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Kathy Lockhart |
