Last Day on the Somme

This poem was going to be very different, a house, a candle burning, midnight, and snow. But only the shell remains; the rest has been bombed out, and it changed into the end of a battle. Perhaps listening to a dramatisation of Michael Morpurgo's extraordinary story "Private Peaceful" last night had more of an effect that I knew at the time. The snow remained, symbol of a world of ice and death, even though I had no idea that there was in fact snow present in the last days of that battle.

19th November 1916 - Battle of the Somme ends in snow and heavy rain after 142 days of fighting

Last Day on the Somme

While snow around the trench did lay
Twas midnight! That hour very late
And I watch the darkness, pray
And watch is ticking as I wait

The mud, the bullets, longest day
Dead staring eyes, my dearest mate
While snow around the trench did lay
Twas midnight! That hour very late

We face the blazing bullet spray
Over the top, to end with hate
Not providence but cruellest fate
And how many died along the way
While snow around the trench did lay