Running Beyond Enemy Lines Poem by Gert Strydom

For days and days they hunted me,
with armed soldiers in oncoming lines
and with my urge to be free
I had to creep through a field of landmines,

bursting through stopping groups
that was set to search and destroy,
avoiding ambushes set by specialist troops,
even the trackers that they did employ

and time and again I had the enemy in my sight,
while I was hiding,
sometimes were freezing in the bitter cold night,
while around me fog was rising

and my nerves were alert
when the birds stopped their singing,
I was ready to divert
the enemy that was following

and to be finally free
from the enemy
was a strange, strange thing
as the chase felt as if it were never ending.