Winning Poem

I said Goodbye to Mum and Dad
And marched off to the war
Mum told me that I looked so smart
As I walked out of the door.

I think Dad knew as he didn’t wave
And he almost shed a tear
Just what I would be facing
His heart was full of fear.

It’s 1915 and I don’t look smart now
I cannot hardly stand
The mud and cold that awful smell
A gun poised in my hand.

Please take me home
Where the grass is green
And the birds fly in the sky
I want to see my Mum again
I do not want to die.