LETTER: Reflections on the Great War
We sat on August 4 with our lights out and one candle glowing in the dark and I thought of all those soldiers in the trenches in the Great War and when I blew out the candle at 11pm I penned this poem about what someone there would be thinking.
We sit together but alone in the trench
In mud, slime, water and terrible stench
Wait in fear for the whistle to go over the top
Where mate and comrades lay, maybe where I’ll drop
Last smoke and tea for this land we’ll defend
Perhaps this day is the day my life will end
Thinking of family and friends I’ve left
My death would make them all bereft
So I sit here in silence and I pray
That I will survive another day
I pray I’ll return to my family and wife
And have a long and healthy rest of my life
KEVIN RICHARDS
Forge Way, Billingshurst