They made me stay behind that day

With a smile, ‘You’re only a lad’.

Then that whistle blew, taking them over the top;

And my heart was heavy and sad.

I felt so cold and lonely,

Far from pals and the ratta-tat-tat,

But their treasures I held with affection;

‘Keep this ’til I come back’.

Sleep captured me at midnight,

And I’d placed their things in a line,

From my cot I could plainly see them;

The moonlight made them shine.

I awoke in the cold dread of dawning,

Their trinkets sparkled with frost,

But the sparkle died from the touch of my tears,

For I knew my friends were lost.

I’m alive to remember their faces,

Murdered hearts laying cold in the clay.

I owe each of them my tomorrows;

For they saved my life that day.

Other World War One poems by Charles Moorhen:

Pure White Crosses…I Believed You Honourable…