When
By Karl Davis
When the world plumped for conflict,
When the young marched and fell,
When the ones with the purse strings bought them tickets to hell,
When the mothers fell earthwards,
When the soldiers fell down,
When the politicians orated in the name of the crown,
When the air stank of cordite,
When their boots filled with mud,
When the howitzers whistled over men stained with blood,
When the telegrams were delivered
When the boy knocked the door,
When he gave confirmation, Sweet Tommy was no more,
When Merchant Seaman braved oceans
When they sustained the troops,
When we denied them a pension, and forced them through hoops,
When the heroes marched homeward
When they finally won
When nobody could remember quite why it begun,
When we grew up round shellshock
When Grandad couldn’t sleep,
When a child knows the scars on Grandad’s back were not cheap,
When…