‘Your country needs you!’

Came the breathless whine,

As we put our names

On the dotted line.

 

Everyone went;

We all joined the queue.

No questions were asked.

None of us knew

 

About proper war;

We weren’t playing games:

Grenades in an ambush,

A tank crew in flames.

 

Although we were told

That problems were shared,

It soon became clear

That nobody cared.

 

Though we have returned

With barely a mark,

Some didn’t survive

This requisite lark.

 

We pray for them daily,

We ponder their fate,

But such curiosity

Has come far too late.