A PRESENT FROM BIRMINGHAM TO THE KAISER...

Sad Train Parting

Rails meander away from the onlooker

Towards distant glum hills, smudged by steam, 

Reminiscent of a pleasure excursion;

And smiling recruits in flat Army caps

Peer from carriage windows towards the onlooker

With innocent eyes, trusting and agleam,

A lesson to hand out to the Huns, from a winning incursion…

Duckboards meander away from near trenches

Towards distant dire ills, besmirched by smoke,

Resonant of a fatal barrage;

And ailing recruits in death’s pale clutches

Leer in vile contortions in shelled trenches

With blank eyes, blinded and choked,

For whom justice has suffered the ultimate miscarriage…

Pete Ray

July 2017

This rare postcard is featured in Mary B Harding’s book ‘Comic and Novelty Postcards of Birmingham’ and published by Maxam.

Permission was granted for me to use the postcard to accompany my poem…