Those Three Poem by James Casey

Those Three

It happened at night, they wandered these three
Never more than ten yards where they would be free

They were warned not to move They'd get them by light
One panicked and ran, into the night

Up went all in hell fire and smoke
Upsetting the others and then they broke

They didn't reach them, Winding their way
Carefully avoiding the mines that lay

Beneath the soil, waiting to bounce
Upon the unsuspecting, to whom they would pounce

They went into that field in 63
When they got to them, there were three

Mines found their feet and left their token
All were gone and badly broken

They came from the Randolph, and wandered astray
Into this mine field, where they did lay

We should have wept that day. but kept it inside
In the back of our mind, where it could hide

Patiently waiting to explode, in a flood of grief
That, somehow, gave us some relief

From things that always stole our sleep
That left us empty, never happy
But finally be able to weep

Jim 1964