Etched in some memory - The Cockney Bard

Praying for this day to end as death surrounds me.

As scared as any man, yet I no more than a child.

Suffering each friend’s demise as in horror I reel.

Sacrificing my sanity and all I once knew, little as that was.

Cold bodies, charred bodies, faceless bodies abound.

Hearing the screams of fallen mates and those I know not.

Every sound I hear magnified in hell’s tortured mind.

Nearing death oneself as shells descend. Good God!

Dreams, optimism, youth’s filled hope, banished to nothing! 

As pity rolls down my face in misshaped tears, pray for me won’t you. 

Every Soldier dreams a victorious end. If only!

Laid in mud, sacrificial lambs, butchered and slain.

Etched in some memory in years to come, me and my fallen chums!