Down In The Trenches Poem by Beth White

Down in the trenches it's an awful place to be
You never quite know, what your gunna see
Down in the trenches with the tommy boys
With the deafening silence that makes no noise
Down in the trenches we're all good mates
Down in the trenches we all have different fates

Down in the trenches eyes burning bright
Pain glowing from the sockets, mustard gas poor mites
Down in the trenches in stagnant water feet swell
Putrified flesh that starts to smell
Down in the trenches wearing my gas mask
The bombs above go bang, flash, flash
Down in the trenches sipping my rum
Down here it's awfully glum
Out of the trenches charging full pace
All I see is lifeless bodies all over the place

I'm hit I'm hit the light is starting to fade
In the mud I have laid
As I lay with the fallen
Conrads by my side
I shall die with pride
Donec finem pugnabit (till the end we will fight)