THE BATTLE GROUND (WORLD WAR ONE)

Any one who recons battle is all glory
Never been in one!
It's desperation , fear , a long time ago
We stopped asking why , what the war was all about
The dead laying out in front
Slowly rotten , decaying before our eyes
We can't bury them , or , we're be laying with them!

Some times get detailed off to go out at night in to no mans land
To fix the wire , or fix the phone line
Hope Jerry don't hear or see us

We'd crawl out , trying to be like moggys* back home at night hunting for mice
The night is cold , yet we sweat , sweat runs of us in rivets
Fear , our constant companion

A very light rises in to the night sky , we hit the grounder , I land on a body
Mostly ribs , now , rats stream out , the stench , the taste of rotten flesh , fills my Mouth , and I swlow some , involuntary , I wona throw up , but dare not

Me and me chums , fix the wire , attach the phone , it was easy to night , Uselessly takes most of the night

We decide to head back to our trench , we go back separately , just encase
Jerry , has heard us
I go last , it was my turn , I wait , till me chums , had , made the trench

As I kick off , something grabs me by the ankle , '' Oh shit ''
I kick back free my self , makes it back , at some speed!

When I reached our trench , I vomited up me guts , and shit me self
I do not know what had grabber , me by the ankle , I weren't goner hang about
To find out!

Ken D Williams
The Dyslexic Wordsmith

* Moggy , name given to a domestic cat






Poetry by ken d williams The PoetBay support member heart!
Read 740 times
Written on 2014-02-27 at 22:18

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Jeffrey Z Rothstein
Ken,
you have really caught something of the horrible necrotic subtlety of a battlefield. The level of human fear and self-abasement is made palpable here. It makes me want to go home and take long shower, and brings back disturbing personal memories of other events.
Kudos. First rate writing.
Jeff
2014-02-28


countryfog
Mostly because of your writings, I watched "All Quiet On The Eastern Front" earlier this week. No doubt you have seen it, it depicts in all its useless horror what you too depict, though from the viewpoint of "the enemy" who one comes to realize is no different from us. It ends with one of the most compelling and unforgettable scenes I have ever seen - one of the main characters, back in the trenches after surviving countless attacks and counter-attacks and being wounded, reaches up to touch a butterfly and is killed. I didn't mean this to be about the movie, only that what you write has made me seek out more about "the war to end all wars".
2014-02-28


Nabeela Altaf
We can bury them , or , we're be laying with them- great line!
The end was gripping.
2014-02-28