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TommyS

Just thought I would share this poem. I found it in my papers from the 70s. I am not sure of the origin but I think it is based on a true event in Belfast




In a Station in the City a British Soldier stood
Talking to the people there if the people would
Some just stared in hatred, others turned in pain
The lonely British Soldier wished he was back home again
Come join the British Army said the posters in his town
Come see the world, come have some fun, come serve before the Crown
The jobs were hard to come by and he could not face the dole
So he took his Country's shilling and enlisted for the role
There was no fear of fighting the Empire long was lost
Ten years in the army getting paid for being bossed
They leave a man experienced, a man who made the grade
Some medals and a pension, some memories and a trade
Then came a call to Ireland as the call had come before
Another bloody chapter in an endless Civil War
The priests they stood on both sides the priests they stood behind
Another fight in Jesus name, leading the blind against the blind
The Soldiers stood between them both, between the whistling stones
And then the broken bottles lead to broken bones
The petrol bombs that burned his hands, the nails that pierce his skin
Made him wish he had stayed at home surrounded by his kin
The Station filled with people, the Soldier soon got bored
But better in the Station than where the people warred
The room filed up with mothers,daughters and their sons
Who stare with itchy fingers at the Soldier and his gun
A veil of fear a screech of brakes a shattering of glass
The window of the Station broke to let the package pass
A scream came from the mothers as they ran towards the door
Dragging children crying from the bomb upon the floor
Take cover yelled the Soldier, take cover for your lives
The Irishmen threw down their young and stood before their wives
They turned towards the Soldier, their eyes alive with fear
For Gods sake save our children or they'll end their young lives here
The Soldier stood,he could not move,his gun he could not use
He knew the bomb had seconds not minutes on the fuse
He couldn't run and pick it up and throw it in the street
There were far too many people there , too many running feet
He moved towards the bomb his stomach like a stone
Why was this his battle God why was he alone
He lay down on the package and murmured one farewell
To those at home in England to those he loved so well
He saw the sights of summer,felt the wind upon his brow
The young girls in the City Parks how precious were they now
The soaring of the swallow the beauty of the swan
The music of the turning earth so soon it would be gone
A muffled soft explosion, the room began to quake
The Soldier blown across the room his blood a crimson lake
They never heard him cry or shout, they never heard him moan
They turned their children's faces from the blood and from the bone
The crowd outside soon gathered, the ambulances they came
To carry off the body of a pawn lost to the game
The crowd they clapped and jeered and sang their rebel songs
One Soldier less to interfere where he did not belong
But will the children growing up learn at their mother's knee
The story of the Soldier who brought their liberty
Who gave his youthful body as a means towards and end
And gave his young life to those who called him murderer not friend

TommyS