THE SQUADDIE

Stray alley-cat scrabbled over the debris,

Searching for leftovers from the battle,

Where he was respected as an officer,

Leading his callow men up to the front-line.

Then the enemy machine-gun nest

Erupted with fire, stretching him

Out on the molten tarmac and ate

His tough-muscled body into a charred

Mess of skeletal blackness.