Loos, France 1915

Slaughter among the slag heaps Bodies bowed over barbed wire blood and brains mixing with the mud

In Cite St. Auguste citizens burrow

into basements as if Armageddon has arrived

or roam the streets blank faced and bleary eyed

London, Lancashire, and Lancaster lads battle

like beasts within the Hohenzollern horror hoping to hold it as bayonets tear through torsos poison wafting on the wind blown back

where it was birthed menacing their own men

the fight continuing through the night by Very light

unable to rest as no reserves arrive to relieve them

poor planning on the part of generals out of touch

with reality as they continue to order insanity

It has been more than a year since Ferdinand fell Princip with his pistol throwing open the gates of hell