Tag

Shot at Dawn

Poetry

Knight to Black Night

Resolute in hardened steel of armour Ended lives with a slice of his sword Fought with valour, fought with pride Learnt to hate the crusading invasion Erstwhile gone, in a warriors time Cried like a babe at what he'd done Turned his back on the Bloody Battle Coward they labelled…
Jan Hedger
15th April 2014
Poetry

A Shameful Death

His hands are tied behind his back A target on his heart Because ‘They’ have decided That he didn’t play his part He’d heard the patriotic talk And lied about his age To go to be a soldier On that celebrated stage The talk of daring valiant deeds Stirred his…
Terry Alexander
6th June 2013
Poetry

A COWARDS SUIT

A demob suit with holes of red accessesorized not by tie of gaudy thread, but blindfold ,rope and disgrace Instead, a cruel letter home to those who share his name a nation looking back in shame
Janet Bundy
26th October 2012
Poetry

Shot at Dawn

Take the “Coward” from this place Another boy goes to waste Tie him to a well fixed post I suppose his mother loved him most Recruit a squad from his platoon Home for Christmas, boom, boom, boom Not to wound, aim to kill With his pals just until SHOT AT…
Stephen Williams
26th November 2011
Poetry

Shot At Dawn

(Fusilier Joseph Byers 15576) The Western Front that Hell On Earth Was where a man could prove his worth. When friends around you cruelly died You soldiered on with fear and pride. The noise, the pain, the doubts would come And from the Jaw's of Death you'd turn. Your officers…
Robert Carson
19th July 2009
Poetry

Morning Dispatch

He loved the darkness. And its quiet stillness, When the only sound was the pound of his heart, And the quiet whisper of his breathing. In that dark wilderness of a world Only he was not sleeping As long as he stayed awake All would be well Sleep only brought…
Derek Pattison
21st April 2009
Poetry

Sonnet – The Deserter

Pity the soldier, broken and afraid Bowed head, his hollow eyes look to the ground He faces death now, lined up on parade His lips are moving but they make no sound. Pity the soldiers in the firing squad Facing today their comrade and a friend They tremble too in…
Christine Bryant
16th November 2008
Poetry

Shot at dawn

Why did you wait for the day to break For God’s light to fill the sky Before you placed a blindfold on his head And ordered him to die Did you witness the sheer terror In the eyes of my only son Did you listen to his heartbeat As you…
Elizabeth Slater Hale
24th October 2008
Poetry

BY WAY OF AN EXAMPLE

At Thermopylae…twenty four centuries gone…three hundred And more Grecian Spartans shed their blood for their nation As they made their last stand. Sorely betrayed…but They were held in high esteem by the Patriarchs of their nation State, and long are they Remembered… Yet… On French soil Some nine decades not…
Kevin M Welsh
30th January 2008
Poetry

FOR THOSE SHOT FOR COWARDICE WW1

Their voices echo down the years, demanding justice. “It’s the noise, echoing rebounding in the muddy trenches, The shells, continuous, shrieking, exploding in front an rear” “I’m not afraid to die, its living in this hell That causes the problem, I start to shake, my brain goes dead” Then the…
A. R. Lewis
22nd January 2008