Oh My Dear Son, If Only You Knew
Just turned seventeen when I took the shilling
Got a smart uniform, and some shiny boots too
Then off to camp to learn about killing,
Oh my dear son, if only you knew.
Next stop was France, a young lad abroad
How welcoming and warm we found the French,
But ideas of adventure are put to the sword
When you're standing knee deep in mud in a trench.
The shelling was awful, it scared me to death
A voice shouted duck! there's one coming through
Many of my mates then took their last breath
Oh my dear son, if only you knew.
I'm yer old dad, but once I was young too
But my youth was tainted for I lived with killing,
And I saw such horrors I'd dare not tell you,
You did what they said, once you took the shilling.
Even today I hear wounded men screaming
I see the face of the man my bayonet ran through,
I charge the barbed wire every night as I'm dreaming,
Oh my dear son... if only you knew.
Entry for
If only you knew Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Silent One.
24/8/2019. Placed 2nd.
Copyright © Gary Smith | Year Posted 2019
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