To Say Goodbye....

You died at midday... As we began the sweep Down the kopje Shot three times The blood Spilled on to granite No time to weep The crackle of gunfire The deep thump of mortars We could not help John There was no time He was gone When the contact was over When we finished our business Of living for the day We went back for John The flies had settled on his drying blood Upon the granite Where he lay There is no dignity In dying this way For John... Upon the granite Where he lay We covered his body With a camouflage jacket We squatted down Passed our smokes around It is not a game For death will find us It does not discriminate We are all the same We carried John down Remembering our guilt Of not dying Put him on the chopper Closed our eyes to the dust flying Soon he was gone It could have been me Up there On the granite Where John lay In the suns' glare Where he lay Thirty years passed by I still remember the gunfire Where he lay Nothing I could say Except.... To say goodbye...