A Letter home

In 10 days time, this country will be commemorating the end of World War One, World War Two, and all other conflicts since 1945, we will be remembering those brave men and civilians who fell, and all those husbands, sons, and brothers who fought.

For the next 10 days I will post one of my own poems from my book World War One in Verse, If you want a copy of my book please inbox me, these are some of my poems and they are my personal way of remembering them.

This poem is about the futility of war.

A Letter Home

‘Dear mother, I’ll see you again’,
He wrote these words while wracked with pain,
Up to his waist in muck and mud,
Hole in his stomach – oozing blood.

At just eighteen he took the shilling,
Spirit strong and very willing,
The town had naught to offer him,
Families starved, times were grim.

Shook Granddad’s hand, felt like a man,
He’d fought his war in the Sudan,
Kissed mother’s cheek at the front door,
And marched away to glorious war.

But first he must learn how to fight…
Learn what was wrong and what was right,
At barracks he would make new friends,
Experience pays dividends!

He learned to stand erect and tall,
Fight to the end – to kill not brawl,
To march so proudly around the square,
He wished his dad could see him there!

Just six months later on the Somme,
Stray shrapnel from a German bomb,
Had left him with a gaping hole…
And fear of death within his soul.

With bloodied hand he held the pen,
Began to write ‘See you again,
I love you mother – truly care,
Look to your side and I’ll be there.’

His pen and hand slipped into mud,
He died alone where he once stood,
Learning to march stood him in stead.
On Heaven’s stairs he joined the dead!

Eric Harvey 29/10/2020