A spell in the army and an interest in military history has led to many of my poems having a military theme and I will group these under the category of ‘Barrack Room Ballads’, borrowed from Kipling of course.
A short while ago the last of the First World War veterans died and at the time several good poems were written to commemorate the occasion, including Carol Anne Duffy’s wonderfully imaginative poem ‘The last Post’ , however I felt that I wanted to mark the occasion myself somehow. This was the result.
The Last Tommy
A lifetime lived and then some more
nearly a century of silence and then,
he remembered, recalled to mind,
the horrors of that heinous time
A gentle man, West Country born,
a tradesman who would work with pride.
A family man that honoured truth,
showed no regret for his lost youth.
He watched as slowly, one by one,
his band of brothers slipped behind
and scared that we’d forget the past,
decided he’d speak out at last.
Then history’s fallen, with his tongue,
rose from the trenches, tired and torn,
with hollow eyes that seemed to plead.
‘Listen to him. Remember me.’
Who will remind us now he’s gone?
A generation’s mouthpiece mourned.
The falling poppies will perhaps,
then we’ll remember Harry Patch.
Tags: Creative writing, Military History, Odd Odes, Poems, Poetry, Writing
