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Inside the Ambulance

Inside the Ambulance

 

As I opened the double doors of the ambulance

I saw five pairs of bare feet 

A waft of stale air brought with it the stench of death

bodies dead for several hours in a hot sun

My heart was racing as I climbed inside

into a cavern of death and mutilation

Bullet wounds which had seeped blood

were now congealed stains, signs of violent deaths

Their faces aghast, distorted with eyes wide open

all wore green military shirts and wizars

I had been instructed to search their broken bodies

to find evidence of identity or future enemy intentions

Gripped by an overwhelming feeling of nausea 

I put my hands inside their pockets

only to feel the lifeless cadavers of young men

Drops of my perspiration fell on their faces

somehow irreligious and disrespectful

These sons, brothers, cousins and nephews

grandchildren who had been loved now lay

inert with the breath of life extinguished

I found nothing except for belts of ammunition

no positive identification save their disfigured appearance

Hours before they patrolled the nearby hill country

Then, ambushed they fell in a hail of gun fire

Lives taken, never to return, sacrificed in a cause

with the mark of liberation to stain their lifeless hearts

◄ The Streets of London

The Waiting Room ►

Comments

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keith jeffries

Sat 16th Jun 2018 20:23

Pat & Hazel,
Thank you for your comments. Poetry may not stop or avert wars but one hopes it will contribute to the horror of conflict being highlighted. There is no glory only intense suffering and abject misery. Humanity is plagued by war. The poem by Siegfried Sassoon The Menin Gate is a clear reminder of the futility of war. A poem that should be taught and read over and over again. Thank you to you both
Keith

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Hazel ettridge

Sat 16th Jun 2018 18:56

Have you read Futility by Wilfrid Owen? So many wars, and we just keep going. And every war creates the same devastation. Very powerful but even so, I don't think poetry will stop the warmongers.

Pat Hughes

Fri 15th Jun 2018 20:35

Its hard to read but very necessary.

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