Breath plumes in the chill
Of the morning still
When suddenly, harsh
whistles blow
Shrilly breaking the
silence
And then the order
comes
It’s time to advance
So, over the top go
the lads
Clambering out of the
trench
To stride with purpose
Towards the enemy line
When the machine guns
Speak their deadly
greeting
And their body’s fall
On the scarred
And blood-stained land
Don’t take too much comfort
From having the enemy
in view
Because if the enemy
is in range
Then by extension so
are you
D-Day at Dawn,
As he climbed down
The scramble net
And into the landing
craft,
He was afraid,
But more than that
He was terrified,
But he was not
Afraid of death
Nor of injury,
Not of the rolling
seas
Or the deafening boom
Of Naval guns
Or incessant gunfire
From the hostile
shore.
None of that unnerving
Catalogue of terror
Frightened his as
much,
Or made him more
afraid
Than of fear itself
A paralysing fear
Filling him with
anxiety
Rendering him inert
Leaving him unable
To do his duty
To remember his
training
Or fulfil his function
But above all else
His greatest fear of
all
Was that he would
Let down his men
The booming guns fall silent
All along the western front
As the dawn breaks and
In dimly lights
trenches
Men pass the time in
silence,
Alone among the throng
With their own
thoughts
Or speaking silently
to God
But in the silent
waiting
Nerves jangle until
the whistles blow
And up they go, over
the top
As bullets sing their
deadly song
And reap a bitter
harvest
But the stalwarts
strive on
A deliberate course
sustained
Unwavering, toward the foe
Across the battle
scarred field
Amidst smoke and
shell
Where the acrid
scented air
Stings the eyes and
fills the nostrils
As concussive blast assail
the ears
But onward, ever
onward
The stalwarts strive
on
Not though in the
footsteps of heroes
For these heroes are
making
The footprints in the
mud
That others must
follow
