Over the Bridge by W.S.Vernon, verses I-V, VI-X, XI-XV, XVI-XX, XXI-XXV, XXV-XXX

XI

LOOK yonder where the way is plain,
For in that place they call a scene
I saw my comrades daily slain,
In fields of deepest green.

But do not look beyond those trees,
Beyond that scene of mortal strife,
Beyond the curse that Man decrees
The substance and the end of life;

In fields of deepest green they lay,
With nothing more to gain, or lose,
Those that came, came to stay
In a land they did not choose

XII

MAN in hid wisdom did involve
A hapless treaty wish himself:
To end all war and not provoke
Greed, or envy over wealth.

But how could common sense prevent
The witless folly lie could plan:
It took a genius to invent
A war betwixt Mankind and Man!

XIII

ASHES to ashes, dust to dust,
We all must reap the same
Die we shall if die we must
For a word we could not shame.

And who shall speak of single praise
To the man who cannot see
The love light in his children’s eyes; the ways
Made lovely by a tree?

But I would give a thousand eyes,
A thousand pleasures of our span,
To show the world what it denies
What Man has made of Man!

XIV

THEY pinned a medal on my chest
And told me `twas a noble thing,
To wear upon my aching breast
A tribute from the King.

But few would choose to share the fate
Of those who had to stay,
To serve the purpose of the
State For four-and-six a day.

For four-and-six a day we wore
A beret that was red,
And marched until our feet were sore,
And all our comrades dead.

XV

WISDOM to the wise is clever,
Teaching where it cannot win,
But who commits the greater error
They who teach or they who sin?

They taught us how to kill each other,
A dozen different ways they chose,
So who is guilty then, my brother,
He that taught or him that knows?

Over the Bridge by W.S.Vernon, verses I-V, VI-X, XI-XV, XVI-XX, XXI-XXV, XXV-XXX