NIGHTMARES

 

Did you ever hear the sound of a bullet which missed.
Or a ricochet as it whines between the tree’s.
Have you ever felt so useless tasted the bitter bile of fear
As it rises in the gut from God knows where

Have you ever heard the rattle of a mortar on it’s way
And the crashing sound as it hits the roof above?
Have you heard the screams of men as they meet a horrid death,
Or smelled the stench of cordite mixed with urine guts and blood?

Have you ever reached a point in life, when nothing really matters
That death would be a welcome peaceful thing?
Have you ever looked in awe at the bloody useless body
Of a comrade or a friend as before your eyes his life’s blood ebbs away?

Did you ever pray to God, then find he wasn’t there
and in desperation cry out for mum or dad?
Have you ever fought a one sided useless fight
betrayed by those you thought that you could trust,
Then be taken prisoner by a bestial Japanese

 1 was! and 1 wish   I never had

                                                                            

                                                                         Arthur Lane