The Leaving - Fish

In the gnawing bite of winter;

The winds, bone chilling, howl

Pale skies of swirling snowflakes

Lay a shroud upon the ground

To a scarred and shattered landscape

Some brief dignity is shown

Where the dead remain unburied

On the dark and blood-stained earth

The fronts inch slowly forward the battalions follow on

The new blood marches to the Caissons song

Strangers fill the spaces join the beleaguered rank and file

Resigned to further battles further up the line

But the ground will be retaken, the offensives bogging down

Countering attacks they stall and fail

The stalemate still continued and the guns still took their toll

And the generals counted casualties as the soldiers vainly fell

It had to end, the armies broken

One side had lost but who had won

The ravaged land, the decimation

So hard to bear, the loss and pain

The men returned, the war was over

The bells rang out, a country cheered

Behind their eyes they stored the horrors

Behind their smiles they hid their fears

The medals and the honours were handed out to those who served

The letters of condolences were kept

Reminding generations of the sacrifices made

The suffering and the torment

Of the men most never knew, lest we forget