THOSE BRAVE FARM BOYS by Arthur Cole

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This poem was written by Arthur Cole about the First World War, he said: "During the First World War many young men worked on farms all over the country, life was not easy and they were treated terribly, as a result when the First World War broke out they joined up in an instant. They thought it was great. Three square meals a day and  the war over by Xmas. How naive they were. So many never returned. I penned this poem in their memory"

"THOSE BRAVE FARM BOYS"

The farm was my life, when war was declared,

a far foreign field, I was not even scared.

Blood thirst or politics, not on my mind,

For King and country, the sake of mankind.

Life on the farm, was cruel and hard,

treated like dogs, this war would reward.

Four months we trained, then off to the front,

over by Christmas, Kaiser Bill we would hunt.

Oh so naive, without a care in the world,

my future  uncertain, I watched carnage unfold.

The trenches our havens, from gas and shell,

once over the top, we battled through hell .

Retreat the order, comrades dead on the wires,

back to the trenches, body and soul, oh so tired.

Respite cut short, over the top once again,

like lemmings to slaughter, those orders insane.

A fox hole my refuge, body and mind in free fall,

praying to God, let me live after all.

A farm boy I was, till I answered the call,

I died in that fox hole, in one smokey pall.  

 

Copyright Arthur Cole, 2016 (97)

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