The Field Cook Poem by jan oskar hansen

The battle had been bloody, they had been told
to hold the hilltop at all cost, but now as it was
lunch the fighting ceased and the defenders’
cook rang his bell food’s ready come, get it.

He had made lunch for 5oo soldiers, but only
4oo turned up, he could afford to give them
bigger portions not skimp and save as he often
had to do, they would be grateful for that

The cook had been a sergeant for a week now
and he wondered if the cook on the enemy side
was a sergeant too, it would have been nice to
meet him and talk about catering under fire.

Tonight, when the field had been cleared of
dead bodies, he was going to cook a pot roast
with mashed potatoes and peas. As his major
said: “soldiers can’t fight on an empty belly.”