So I sit alone, cold on a bench, world's away from my comrades, that lie dead in the trench.
These hands that saw violence, these eyes growing dark, this world bathed in silence, a new journey to embark.

We did it for kings, we followed the crown, we rushed from the boats, I saw many drown. 
They pinned a shiny medal, right there on my chest, and I heard the bell toll as we laid them to rest.
In dreams, they still haunt me, the young and the old, the brave ones, the reckless, the ones too bold. 

No one asks what I saw, in the heat of the fight, but the memories still haunt me in the dark of the night. 
they've left us forgotten, as a world falls apart, and hope we'll stay silent as we all depart.

And so I sit on this cold bench and remember the friends that I left in the trench, 
We fought for freedom, truth and the world.  as they lay on my flag, folded and furled. 
Could they now throw away all that we won, those darkened times, please remember me son. 
I'll take this last walk, by these markers and crosses, on dark shoulders that don't see or count losses. 

Another life gone as he's laid in the ground, his stories forgotten, not in history found. 
We need to revere soldiers so many so brave, not leave them forgotten to rot in a grave.

MDH 2024