Were the gun shots not loud like thunder?
The curled jagged wire that was before the trenches
Where the rain fell and pooled, little Jimmy lost his foot and Thomas his entire leg from the ?green?
The sounds of bombs whistle through the air
Silence-
Until BANG it explodes to make the earth shake in unnatural fury
The gun blasts and shoots the man?s face He didn?t seen
He falls like a sack- face down upon the dirt with frozen lips and eyes
Did he have a wife? Or children before this Great War?
Gabe doesn?t know for He will never know his name
And slowly the stupor emerges
Blurred-
Is the vision in Gabe?s drooping eyes
So heavy and red, so sore and dead
The nails so dirty and the cheeks smeared with earth
That is not His own or the man who walks beside Him, who?s name He thinks is Owen
The Siren-
That whines like an injured beast
Piercing Gabe?s head and quickening the pace of His swollen aching feet
The huge gas mask that is so bulky and alien
But He clumsily secures it with bloodied hands and shredded fingers
Cold-
Is the morning and even colder is the night
And once again someone is dead
But not by the hand of a foe or a guilty friend
No, it is by his own hand that the cold metal of the gun met the cavern of his mouth
So that the sheet?s over his scarlet head
Only his hand limp- it has fallen out the sheet- is visible- muddy and lifeless
Nicky-
She?s Gabe?s girl
Getting married after the war in St. Patrick?s Chapel
She?ll have His baby and wear floral dresses
Her fine blonde tresses curled about her face
Pink cheeks and brown eyes are what Gabe remembers about her
Tired-
That?s what Gabe is
Maybe Gabe?ll just close His eyes
For a bit
Just for a little while
And when the enemy comes Gabe?ll be ready
He?s just a bit tired
The truck?s almost back at the base and the frontline is made up of the ghosts of the