I like the war poets - so a bit of Wilfred Owen Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge, Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs And towards our distant rest began to trudge. Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots Of tired, outstripped Five-Nines that dropped behind. Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!---An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time; But someone still was yelling out and stumbling, And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime... Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams, before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning. If in some smothering dreams you too could pace Behind the wagon that we flung him in, And watch the white eyes writhing in his face, His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin; If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--- My friend, you would not tell with such high zest To children ardent for some desperate glory, The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.
you should read the Somme mud by E P F Lynch -- cracking read and very moving . http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7093256-somme-mud
I've visited The Somme and surrounding area a few times with my father who used to take private tours of the battlefields, his grandfather my great grandfather was killed and is buried near Arras, another good book is "The Hell They Called High Wood" High wood has regrown and is still there its still cordoned off because of unexploded munitions, the whole area just brings the horror back and is very emotional
A clever little limerick -- A flea and a fly in a flue Were caught, so what could they do? Said the fly, "Let us flee." "Let us fly," said the flea. So they flew through a flaw in the flue.
I've seen the poison letters of the horrible hacks About the yellow peril and the reds and the blacks And the TUC and its treacherous acts Kremlin money - All right Jack I've seen how democracy is under duress But I've never seen a nipple in the Daily Express I've seen the suede jack boot the verbal cosh Whitehouse Whitelaw whitewash Blood uptown where the vandals rule Classroom mafia scandal school They accuse - I confess I've never seen a nipple in the Daily Express Angry columns scream in pain Love in vain domestic strain Divorce disease it eats away The family structure day by day In the grim pursuit of happiness I've never seen a nipple in the Daily Express This paper's boring mindless mean Full of pornography the kind that's clean Where William Hickey meets Michael Caine Again and again and again and again I've seen millionaires on the DHSS But I've never seen a nipple in the Daily Express You never see a nipple in the daily express John Cooper Clarke It was either this, or 10 ways to avoid lending your wheelbarrow to anyone by Adrian Mitchell,or The Metro By Roger McGough. Or.....even.... Pam Ayres - "Oh I Wish I'd Looked After Me Teeth" - stereo
More Jam I hate jam I dont want it to know where i am I want a jam free life Never letting jam on my knife Beware of jam my friend It can spread from end to end Eating jam is a sin Letting all that jam go in Let your life be pure like me Totally jam free be careful my friend Or jam will get you in the end Mr spike Milligan
A young man from Blighty There was a young man from Blighty Who wore a transparent nighty The vicar said son Its really not done Its not wrong but its not righty
And for a short ,totally nailed it , makes me laff , " When i am old i shall wear purple ......" Wonderful !!!!!
