I Saw Men Poem by Gert Strydom

I Saw Men



I saw men wetting their pants
when the first bullets fly past them
in their first contact with the enemy
and I saw men,
shot out of their military boots
and lying broken and covered with blood.

I saw men burnt to ashes
by white phosphorous
in a shot out Ratel IFV
and I saw men
left limbless by landmines.

I saw men making the best
of what life dealt them
and fighting to survive
against the odds
and gaining victory,
against a outnumbering foe
and still believing the old lie:

Dulce et decorum est
pro patria mori

[References: Dulce et decorum est by Wilfred Owen. Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.= 'It is sweet and right to die for the homeland”]

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Gert Strydom

Gert Strydom

Johannesburg, South Africa
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