They Watched The Dawn. Poem by Tom Allport

Snow flakes gently floated down
Covering the pock marked
Trench dug ground
With a soft velvety white
They stood waiting
For the whistle to blow
On that early winter morn
All of them
Not wanting to fall
Pal by Pal
They watched the dawn
Their tired bodies and souls
All thinking of 'ome
Trapped in a foreign land
With no ticket out
'Til they hear that sound
Then it's up and out
Into dead man's land
A hellish man-made place
With shells and wiz bangs
Raining down and the
Hissing hissing gas sounds
No time for mad cap hats
Rat a tat tat the
Machine guns sing leaving
Death and carnage
For the Reaper's call
With torrents of tears
As many thousands fall
Leaving their history
In the soft
Blood stained snow
In the theatre of war.