I have heard the soldiers singing                  

    Pure young voices strong and true.

           I have heard them speak of valour

Each man the others must outdo

I have watched them march to battle

With final thoughts of home and wives

Realizing - for the first time

They now are fighting for their lives.

I have seen life standing – leering

While death fondled his barbarous knife;

Heard Apocalyptic horsemen echoing

           Hauntingly through halls of night.

            I have smelt the devil`s rank breath

Ras             Rasping harsh through nostrils flared,

His f            His fiendish riders stealing by me

Stal             Stalking their prey with sabers bared.

   

            I have watched the victims stiffen,

            Petrified by loathsome scenes

            Sheering through this realm of terror

            A figment of evil, demented dreams.

            I have wept for souls returning,

            Floundering relics of mankind

            Condemned to a living hell they wander

             Seeking a peace they cannot find

            And on .. and on - time after time.

updated by @fred-mcilmoyle: 10/17/17 11:02:19AM