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Entrenched

Peter Goulding

Thursday, December 29th, 2005

1 Leave a comment on verse 1 0 It’s an image that should be inspiring,
Restoring our faith in humanity,
When the cannon and guns ceased their firing
And goodwill overpowered the insanity.

2 Leave a comment on verse 2 0 When the mud-spattered fodder came crawling
O’er trenches so cold and decaying,
Sweet respite from murderous brawling,
Repose from the maiming and slaying.

3 Leave a comment on verse 3 0 When the Christmas Day truce stopped the slaughter
With its thoughts of a faraway manger,
And wine was dispensed as if water,
And no-one considered a stranger.

4 Leave a comment on verse 4 0 When a football was kicked about freely
Where the blood of lost comrades lay frozen,
Concentration so earnest and steely
On the brows of the players thus chosen.

5 Leave a comment on verse 5 0 And the smiles brought some warmth and some colour
To the endless expanse, brown and dreary,
And the flush, sweating faces seemed fuller,
Though the eyes remained ghostly and weary.

6 Leave a comment on verse 6 0 It’s an image that should be inspiring,
Restoring our faith in humanity,
But the next day the guns started firing
And the world sank once more to insanity.

© Peter Goulding 29th December 2005

Notes

Expanding on an earlier poem (“The Reverse of the Coin”) most people see the Christmas Day trenches football match as a symbol of hope. I view it with horror. One thing to kill a faceless enemy, but how can you go back to trying to kill someone you shared cigarettes with or played football with the day before?

Source: http://footballpoets.org/poems/entrenched/