As my face reflects   Behind enemy lines   Yet separated by   Barbwire and mines      Knee deep in freezing mud   Best "pals" breath I tried to regain   The worst factor is, not knowing   Of the time that remains      Contamination dashes in a bloody trench   Poetry written amongst shrapnel and friends      Sanity buckles under the weight   Of steel and spraying lead   Howitzers toll an ominous death knell   Ear-splitting elegy above those who fell      Corruption seeks a lonesome trace   Gangrenous limbs or a blown off face   Amputation in the killing field   Infection overcomes, affection concealed      Puppets of war race over the edge   Commence death dance at close quarters   Hope of truce torn and bloodstained   A thousand lives lost and only twenty yards gained      As battle tires out   And bombing starts to die   Dead soldiers all around   With fear injected into their eyes      400.000 Britain's dead   600.000 Germans put to rest   Fallen in the battle of Somme   One million youngsters dead and gone