The Forgotten

You, the forgotten,

Chindits, Gurkhas, Commonwealth

Fighting to the end

In the jungles of Burma.

Now you are the remembered.

[for Sergeant Major Kenneth Whiteley a Burma campaign veteran and my father]

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Victory

Today

He had his head down

Holding his breath

So the snipers couldn’t hear him

Laying flat

In the Burmese dust

With the flies and mosquitos

From the green canopy

Hovering over him

Like Kamikaze

Today

He feasted on

Meagre rations

And drank a warm tepid water

Drawn from a dirty stream

Somewhere

Something exploded

And debris rain...

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I'm reposting this poem with the audio I recorded of it (as a song) to commemorate my father and the other soldiers who fought during WW2 in Asia - The Forgotten Army of Burma - for the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day

The Bayonet In The Shed

He put it there in forty nine,

in a woodworm riddled drawer,

wrapped it in a greasy rag.

A remnant from the war.

On top of it he laid h...

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