The Bold In Lye
Slim, wiry and disconcertingly pale,
The infantryman follows his bayonet blade;
Ready to attack through the wire near the Boche lines,
His grim expression ignorant of what the push might entail…
Pallid, insightful and distinctly passive,
The left boot forward is classically framed;
Ready for hand-to-hand combat with an enemy entrenched,
And his firm resolve confident of the outcome of the offensive:
He now stands alone in the grounds of a church,
Facing a worn row of businesses in Black Country Lye
And still he strives for the glory with a striding lurch,
Tight-lipped of mouth and steadfast of eye…
Pete Ray
August 3rd 2020
This memorial was seen by me on the first day of Eid, July 31st 2020 and some young lads were sitting on the steps beneath it.
They were brilliant, moving aside so that I could take my photos and I sincerely hoped that they would find out about the soldier depicted there sometime: Stanley Harley, DCM…
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