Would that we could hear again
the sound of gunfire overhead,
and feel again the weight of grief
when all around lay cold and dead.

Would that we could see again
our friends and loved ones torn away
by cruel and unforgiving shell,
and bayonet, bullet and grenade.

Would that we could touch again
the gaping wounds of those who saw
the horrors that a war doth bring
that left them scarred for evermore.

Would that we could taste again
the fetid and acidic bile
that rose in throats and scalded tongues
whilst choking, choking, all the while.

Would that we could retch again
at stench of corpses on the breeze,
and feel our ailments once again,
the ‘trench foot’, diarrhoea and fleas.

Would that we could have all this
before our eyes and fixed in mind,
and maybe we would learn enough
to cherish love and peace to find.