There's A Place...

 

There’s a place out in the Red Land

Where the song of death sang bold

Where the heat turned men to madness

Then left them dead and cold

And the raging sun bled vicious red

And the gunners gunned with might

And the stretcher bearers ran like hell

As the shells lit up the night

 

Noise with names like screech and squeal

Fed on the startled, gritty wind

Peppered with sarcastic verb

Reaching every man it skinned

And the devil’s to pay with the dawning

Played out below the last night’s moon

And the stench and swell permeating the air

Of boyish men that left too soon.

 

But now the gold moon from the Red Land

Glows on the land of old John Bull

Where empty hearted widows

Hug aching breasts with sorrow full

There’s no laughter in their clouded sky

No singing from the pews

And their hearts they lie in desert sand

Because of ‘top brass’ views

 

There’s a silence in the Red Land

And a beauty to behold

As sunrise struts her in-vogue gown

In shades of pink and gold

Then stately sunset appears at dusk

And both pay tribute, morn and eve

To those brave men that lay below

and floating hearts that grieve.

Author's Note

Footnote:
The Red Land was the ancient Egyptian’s name
For the desert.
The floating hearts are the widows and orphans
Whose thoughts often turn to and dwell in that
Place where they fell.

Reviews

[Gee]

Conjures images from the many battles of WW1 where the innocent,naive youth of many countries found only death and never glory.
A well written piece that has me a tad jealous :)

[Pauline]

Hi Gee. Terrible times to be sure. Thanks for your welcome comment.

Pauline.

[Chris Shaw]

Many a man has perished because of the intransigence of "top brass". Follow orders, do as you are told. Yours is to do or die, not to question why. There are so many places like the one you have described here Pauline. So many left to grieve their loved ones. Your poem is so well conveyed.

[Pauline]

Thanks Chris. Yes, top brass had a lot to answer for.