The Great Lie

The Great Lie Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria mori I believed that once I laughed and chatted to my friend As we boarded the troopship To take us to the far side of the world Never been abroad before We were excited in Colombo Marvelled at Singapore Fell in love with Hong Kong Then north to the fighting My task, set up and operate a field x-ray department Wherever I look there's mud Ubiquitous mud Even the women, four foot by foot with a ‘tach, smell of mud Bill said 'but that one's not bad' They shipped him out, he's gone mad It all seems quiet Is there a war? One night we hear the thunder Of heavy guns Then only in a few hours They come like a flood The laughing smiling young boys I knew Now bloody, broken dying old men What is so bloody sweet? This is not our home Days and days went by With no respite Amoebic dysentery struck A major battle raged My patients come Like a tide A remorseless powerful tide With broken limbs to be X-rayed So I, with *****running down my legs Stood there without protection and X-rayed them one by one How bloody sweet indeed I had never seen Death before A lull, and they hose me down and my floor But still they come I mourn the loss of so many Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria mori Sweet my **** I curse the cynic who coined this lie Quintus Horatius Flaccus should have been strangled at birth And still they come Hoping for succour Hoping for relief from pain Some times only the peace of death is theirs Some welcome him; you can see it in their eyes We are not uplifted but coarsened A callous round our hearts protects us And still they come Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria mori O Christ the Guns are louder Are they nearer? Dysentery cured Still I *****myself This time in fear Only discipline holds me to my post And still they come Dulce et Decorum est pro Patria mori It's in Latin so it must be true? And still they come O God will it never end I'm tired but have no backup I'm on my own and near despair Then the tide of battle changed The flood drops to a trickle I could sleep now. And she is not bad, warm and gentle Who cares about a little 'tach And she's brought me tea I will sleep now Until it starts again