In trenches deep, where soldiers tread,
Thirteen-year-old dreams lie buried, dead.
A world ablaze, with battles fought,
Innocence fades, lessons hard-taught.

Muddy boots and skies of gray,
Boys not yet grown, sent far away.
Friends-turned-comrades, side by side,
Longing for homes they can’t abide.

Letters penned with trembling hand,
Hoping for peace in a distant land.
But cries of war, they drown the pleas,
Echoing through the trembling trees.

Gas masks on, fear in their eyes,
Yearning for childhood’s sweetest skies.
War’s harsh lessons, too soon learned,
Thirteen-year-old hearts deeply churned.

Oh, World War One, a tragic tale,
Of youth caught in a merciless gale.
Let history speak, let hearts implore,
May such horrors reign nevermore.