I Saw Private Spencer Going To War Poem by Gert Strydom

I saw private Spencer going to war
and his eyes were lonely or so I thought
as he never got a letter
on that godforsaken camp
and he was forever stuck in thought,

reading his Bible, or cleaning his rifle
as if he was in a world of his own
and I worried about that lad
wondering if things at home were going bad?

But when we returned to civilization
and cleared out to go home
the most beautiful woman kissed him hello
and I realized
that he didn’t understand life and war
and the killing that it brought

and to tell the honest truth,
neither did I.