The Veteran's Prayer


By Bob Scott
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Henry John "Harry" Patch (17 June 1898 – 25 July 2009)

THE VETERAN’S PRAYER.
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Weep not for me for I am gone my soul rests in Peace

My pain has long since gone, no longer am I at unrest

So I suffer no more. Plant a Rose

That say Peace and remember me in your Heart
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But!! Spare a thought for those left behind, 

With tormented souls for it is many of those who carry my pain

And that of many of their Comrades too

For them! It is much more untold pain they do suffer
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That pain that Man should never carry such Burden

When often we ask what you did in the wars past

As in silence they never reply, but look gently

Into that kindly! But contorted face of sorrow past

As if hiding behind a mask
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While we lay here in neat row after row

We lay in silence! For we are dead

We cannot shed light on our Brother’s suffering
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So be Gentle with them, when you ask a Veteran
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What did you do in the war?

He is mute and cannot speak as he wrestle with his soul
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So do not forget the dead as they are at Peace their tour of duty over!

But the living they have left behind the Battlefield

War is never over, it goes on within their soul

So be gentle with them and one day, they just might share their thoughts.
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​Poem © Bob Scott April 2014.

If you would like to get in touch with Bob go to "Contact" at the top of the page
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Claude Stanley Choules ( 3 March 1901 – 5 May 2011)