In Flanders Fields I Lost My Love
written by: Andrea Walker
I didn’t want to go to war
I wasn’t cut out to fight
I liked to sit by the fire
To read or draw each night
I joined before I was conscripted
It was the expected thing to do
Barely twenty-one and green
The countryside all I knew
On the boat crossing over
I spied a face that seemed so kind
He was tall and full of grace
I couldn’t get him out of my mind
Disembarking amongst the crowds
I lost sight of him so quickly
Soon I was marching with the rest
Thoughts of war made me quite sickly
At the trenches we soon arrived
The smell made me want to heave
Death and destruction loomed everywhere
I saw grown men begging to leave
The first shell that exploded
Made me jump out of my skin
I shivered with uncertainty
There was no way we could win
I looked amongst the fellows
Positioned down in the trench
And suddenly I spotted him
And my hands I had to clench
He smiled as he caught my eye
I was a mass of mixed emotion
Assumed I’d find a wife one day
And yet I knew I felt devotion
We fought till we had nothing in us
I made many mistakes that day
To my sorrow one of them
Meant a life was taken away
I was admonished but not severely
They were too battle scarred to care
Bodies were hastily buried
In the places they dropped, right there
Lost limbs were thrown like mortars
Out towards the approaching Hun
From bodies of the lives they’d snuffed
Grabbed from the blood-soaked mud
I tried to harden myself up
But it was no use I was quite soft
I’d weep every time I heard a scream
As another life was lost
Within weeks we were secretly meeting
We shared a stolen kiss
He was so beautiful my Henry
Our love you could not miss
Henry was a crack shot
I trusted he would be safe
But one fateful morning
His life he valiantly gave
They carried him towards me
Their eyes they tried to avert
They must have guessed our secret
And initially pretended he was only hurt
It was only once in the trenches
They finally admitted the truth
My darling boy was dead
Oh the naivety of youth
They gave me time to mourn him
Protected me from prying eyes
Those six strong men whistled loudly
To drown out my screams and cries
In Flanders Fields I lost my love
I think I went quite mad
I jumped up in full view
And screamed come shoot on me lads
They dragged me down and held me
Made sure I was alright
We buried my love that evening
In the starkness of moonlight
I didn’t want to be there
Home beckoned me or death
I was no more a soldier
Once my Henry had drawn his last breath
One day not so very long after
I saw the Hun advancing
I crawled towards them slowly
The shots that hit me they were glancing
I was invalided home at last
Shrapnel wounds scarred my head
And bullet holes filled my body
I wished that I too was dead
But life moves on as it should
And I survived to my chagrin
I’ve lived alone for so many years
Nobody my heart would let in
Today I feel a presence
I’m nearing the end I’m sure
Henry is suddenly before me
And soon we’ll be together forever more
In Flanders Fields I lost my love
But oh how sweet to find
The soul mate I was meant for
Out of all of mankind
- The Witch’s Ball - October 27, 2024
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