Far Away Poem by Tim Kitchen

Oh Laura you are in love, but what can you do
for he has gone so far away, so far away from you.
As you switch on the TV, to see the News at Ten
you start to wonder if you will ever see him again.

As he was driving his army jeep, along the dusty road
there was an explosion ahead, a land mine he was told.
The jeep was hit by the blast as bleeding he hit the ground
but soon he was relieved to see army medics gather around.

And he knew if he'd been a little further ahead
he and the soldiers with him surely would have been dead.
You pick up the phone nervously and listen to what they say
he is injured, but it's just his foot and he's coming home to stay.

Unlike his great uncle long ago, wounded in the First World War
lying in a trench, with mud and rats, seeing things never seen before.
Men around him white with fear, trying to survive the dark of the night
he was weak and cold and his young life ended, just before first light.