The unseen distant guns in silence fall,
Time now for me to focus on my pain;
And next to me my mate who gave his all
Face down in puddles from a recent rain.
I lift my coat to check if blood has stopped,
To see how much of my young flesh is gone;
Aghast in horror, to see my gun has dropped
Into the mud on which my blood lies on.
The gun on which my very life depends
Corrupted now by earth admixed with blood;
Its barrel choked by dirt it did defend,
Perhaps no more to serve my earthly good.
Mud, blood, my friend, and yet I smile to see;
A bird in flight, soft singing sweet to me.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.