Rhymes of a Red Cross Man

<p><SPAN name="link2H_4_0019" id="link2H_4_0019"></SPAN></p> <br/> <h2> On the Wire </h2> <p>O God, take the sun from the sky!<br/> It's burning me, scorching me up.<br/> God, can't You hear my cry?<br/> 'Water! A poor, little cup!'<br/> It's laughing, the cursed sun!<br/> See how it swells and swells<br/> Fierce as a hundred hells!<br/> God, will it never have done?<br/> It's searing the flesh on my bones;<br/> It's beating with hammers red<br/> My eyeballs into my head;<br/> It's parching my very moans.<br/> See! It's the size of the sky,<br/> And the sky is a torrent of fire,<br/> Foaming on me as I lie<br/> Here on the wire . . . the wire. . . .<br/> <br/> Of the thousands that wheeze and hum<br/> Heedlessly over my head,<br/> Why can't a bullet come,<br/> Pierce to my brain instead,<br/> Blacken forever my brain,<br/> Finish forever my pain?<br/> Here in the hellish glare<br/> Why must I suffer so?<br/> Is it God doesn't care?<br/> Is it God doesn't know?<br/> Oh, to be killed outright,<br/> Clean in the clash of the fight!<br/> That is a golden death,<br/> That is a boon; but this . . .<br/> Drawing an anguished breath<br/> Under a hot abyss,<br/> Under a stooping sky<br/> Of seething, sulphurous fire,<br/> Scorching me up as I lie<br/> Here on the wire . . . the wire. . . .<br/> <br/> Hasten, O God, Thy night!<br/> Hide from my eyes the sight<br/> Of the body I stare and see<br/> Shattered so hideously.<br/> I can't believe that it's mine.<br/> My body was white and sweet,<br/> Flawless and fair and fine,<br/> Shapely from head to feet;<br/> Oh no, I can never be<br/> The thing of horror I see<br/> Under the rifle fire,<br/> Trussed on the wire . . . the wire. . . .<br/> <br/> Of night and of death I dream;<br/> Night that will bring me peace,<br/> Coolness and starry gleam,<br/> Stillness and death's release:<br/> Ages and ages have passed,&mdash;<br/> Lo! it is night at last.<br/> Night! but the guns roar out.<br/> Night! but the hosts attack.<br/> Red and yellow and black<br/> Geysers of doom upspout.<br/> Silver and green and red<br/> Star-shells hover and spread.<br/> Yonder off to the right<br/> Fiercely kindles the fight;<br/> Roaring near and more near,<br/> Thundering now in my ear;<br/> Close to me, close . . . Oh, hark!<br/> Someone moans in the dark.<br/> I hear, but I cannot see,<br/> I hear as the rest retire,<br/> Someone is caught like me,<br/> Caught on the wire . . . the wire. . . .<br/> <br/> Again the shuddering dawn,<br/> Weird and wicked and wan;<br/> Again, and I've not yet gone.<br/> The man whom I heard is dead.<br/> Now I can understand:<br/> A bullet hole in his head,<br/> A pistol gripped in his hand.<br/> Well, he knew what to do,&mdash;<br/> Yes, and now I know too. . . .<br/> <br/> Hark the resentful guns!<br/> Oh, how thankful am I<br/> To think my beloved ones<br/> Will never know how I die!<br/> I've suffered more than my share;<br/> I'm shattered beyond repair;<br/> I've fought like a man the fight,<br/> And now I demand the right<br/> (God! how his fingers cling!)<br/> To do without shame this thing.<br/> Good! there's a bullet still;<br/> Now I'm ready to fire;<br/> Blame me, God, if You will,<br/> Here on the wire . . . the wire. . . .<br/></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />