A Soldier's Heart

Oh sail this ship on holy water Let storms be gone today For the voice of life seeks a tender heart Away from these fields of despair A soldier needs God to recognise me This letter of life, this beacon of hope Pray land on mother’s doorstep And give my family the hug That I cannot bring For this brings peace to me The hands of the children Reach out to fathers gone I pray that they will remember me For time has made a stranger In my babies memory I fear on my return They will not know me And wife you will not see The handsome man of marriage For war has made me old This withered face will tell no stories So pray do not ask me My youth has been lost In generals words and one more push And my mind has accepted this slaughter The man that closed the door of home Cannot return Life will never be the same for me My words belong to the soldier Not to my lovers tears For we compete with the dead Epitaphs are our confetti Littering every street These once happy bodies Lay in no man’s land And they’re pain Are companions to me? Their faces call out “Come join the ranks” And we who know our fate Scribble with trembling hand Will this bombardment never cease? For fear is all over me Concealed behind my pencilled words Except from all who share death with me Lies a truth lost in the darkest night The darkness that possesses this life For war is a father to me. I am the guardian Of this decomposing life Only my corpse can give you the truth So this letter will stay with me I will send to you, my beloved wife Thoughts that will protect your life I cannot write fancy words I am fine and I miss you Hope you and the kids are well It’s not so bad here And with gods will This war will return the man That is me. Love Jack. P S your love will always be with me Should I die please remember me. Let me sleep in English soil For England is my home Though England will be the death of me