Sally Forth

 by Amanda Bowen

sally forth, brave soldiers
your country is waiting
the sacrifice of your blood
shall appease the gods of war

on to battle, young ones
your brothers are dying in the fields
and mother victory weeps
for the fall of her sons

how brave we were
how proud, how true
what intentions we had
as we charged against the enemy

who asks this of us
who dares damn a generation
bodies that were lithe and strong
rot in fields unburied

at home the women weep
mothers, wives, sisters
my son is fallen, or my brother
dear god, who will bring them back

in the churchyards crosses stand
white and mute in the sunlight
while so many miles away
darkness falls

blood gushes red
men scream out in throes of death
and mars on his crimson throne
claps his hands with glee

to the slaughter, husbands and brothers
while your wives wait weeping
and your fathers pray
an unceasing litany to deaf gods

did they ever imagine this
the men who sent you off to war
decay, destruction, butchery
the best of a nation lost

who will rise again
who is left to build the proud cities
upwards towards the sky
no one, mother, they are all gone

their cities destroyed
the white towers topple
and with them our memories
crash to the ground

we were proud and fair
and now we weep
the silent crosses in the sand
washed by the gray ocean

sally forth, brave soldiers
your country is waiting
the sacrifice of your blood
shall appease the gods of war

on to battle, young ones
your brothers are dying in the fields
and mother victory weeps
for the fall of her sons.