Goddamn them all! <br />I was told for just one summer <br />We'd go to Flanders <br />And we'd march back home <br />Men, <br />And Victorious. <br /> <br />Instead I crawled on my belly, <br />Like a snake through the grass, <br />Ducking under chlorine gas at Ypres, <br />Pissing on handkerchiefs <br />And stepping on dead friends. <br /> <br />It was months in the trenches <br />Sniping rats and scratching lice, <br />Breathing in foul tornadoes of dust <br />When it was dry. <br /> <br />And then, finally, <br />When all was quiet on the front, <br />The shelling stopped <br />And the birds singing, <br />I had time to close my eyes <br />And feel my ghost leg itching.<br /><br />Patrick O'Reilly<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-war-promise/
