The Letter

He fought Strong and hard He did Especially since He got that letter He fought As if There was no tomorrow Worth living for It changed him It saddened him He used to laugh Like a Kookaburra Even among All the whistles Of impending death Over there On the Dardanelles He’d be the one To cheer the boys up With a quick Joke And a smoke As he passed In the trenches But that soon changed After he got The letter He didn’t speak of it And I Knew not to ask It changed him He fought with more Vigour, bravery After he got it Always the first To go over the top Or to run the Nek How he survived God only knows He once said While he pattered His breast If I’m to die It will tell you And I knew He meant The letter That sad day came Not there But on the fields of Flanders I lay next to him In the mud and misery Shacking Shacking him “mate Come on mate We’ve come so far Don’t leave me now What am I to tell Nellie I cried Above the screams Of shells and yells On the fields of Flanders It was only after He was buried That I took out The letter And read Tis with great regret We wish to inform you Nellie has passed away She fell from her horse Mustering a mob Down by the course Was then That I understood The change That came over him Way back then On the Dardanelles I turn the letter Over in my hands To see That he had written If I Am to die A forlorn And forgotten Death Upon a foreign shore Please make sure You return me For I wish For you To lay me Upon My dear Nellie’s Breast I remembered After I had Shakenly read That I Wanted to cry But I Had nothing left To share or shed Upon the fields of Flanders I refold The letter And place it Gently At the base Of Nellie’s Headstone As close I could To her Breast