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TRENCH  CURSE 1918
BY
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

	
Patriotic songs give us reason to cheer
Except when “ over there” becomes over here
Mounting casualties are easy to explain
Men on foot crossing open terrain
Synchronized whistles signal the attack
Rise out of the trenches don’t look back

Charge across no mans land search for the foe
Step over the wounded and lifeless lying below
Leap into a trench as the enemy runs
Shouting comrade, comrade, dropping their guns
Run one down, he faces you, a teenager at best
You thrust your bayonet into his chest

He falls to the ground with a terrified shout
You pull your bayonet it doesn’t come out
Put your foot on his body try once more
It seems harder to pull than it was before
Fire several rounds to loosen the hold
During training that’s what we were told

You cautiously explore each padded siding
To ferret out the enemy where he may be hiding
Whistles now sound signaling the all clear
Now to get the dead and dying out of here
If the body is ours we select a spot
If its theirs we toss it over the top

A three hour truce is signaled by speakers overhead
Time for each side to recover the wounded and dead
You’re out of the frenzy and calmed down a bit
You search for the  friends that may have been hit
But what you see is the man you ran through
He was just doing what he was trained to do


Trench(2)


His terrified face is etched into your soul
That fatal  look is already taking its toll
What was his name and where was he from
I’ve stolen the life from some mothers son
Its been forty years since that tragic day
That young man is still a teenager today

Every so often he races past my eyes
Causing a tic and a hopeless  sigh
He was at my wedding at the end of the aisle
He was still terrified  lacking a smile
At first I saw him nearly everywhere
In crowds at ball games at the county fair

He was in the audience at my sons graduation
But what causes my greatest trepidation
Is his presence in nearly all of my dreams
That day in the trench is always the scene   
I’ll never get over it that’s for sure
Cause when you feel guilty there is no cure

I was just doing my duty as I was trained
But that doesn’t stop the memory and pain
From  reoccurring as epic moments can
Like taking the life of another man
My hope was  time would make it fade away
That didn’t happen I’ll have to wait for that day
When I cross over the infinite sea
I hope he’ll be there to pardon me



amplas pecco




WE OVERRAN SOME TRENCHES PURPOSELY ILL-FATED
THE ENEMY BLEW A DAM AND ALL WERE INUNDATED
MOST MEN DROWNED DUE TO THE WEIGHT OF THEIR GEAR
WHILE OTHERS DROWNED PANICKED WITH FEAR
OTHERS CRAWLED OVER THE TOP OUT OF THE WATER
TO BE PICKED OFF BY SNIPERS A MERCILESS SLAUGHTER
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