Drummed their boots on the camion floor, <br />Hob-nailed boots on the camion floor. <br />Sergeants stiff, <br />Corporals sore. <br />Lieutenant thought of a Mestre whore - <br />Warm and soft and sleepy whore, <br />Cozy, warm and lovely whore; <br />Damned cold, bitter, rotten ride, <br />Winding road up the Grappa side. <br />Arditi on benches stiff and cold, <br />Pride of their country stiff and cold, <br />Bristly faces, dirty hides - <br />Infantry marches, Arditi rides. <br />Grey, cold, bitter, sullen ride - <br />To splintered pines on the Grappa side <br />At Asalone, where the truck-load died.<br /><br />Ernest Hemingway<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/riparto-d-assalto/
