The Land of Grimney - The Illustrated Adventures of Cora Pearl, aged 12

“Hey Sergeant,
Would you stand and take
For me a royal rocket
From the Captain if he should spy
Some fluff upon my pocket?”

Sure lad!
What are sergeants for?
I’d stand by you and take it.
But only once you scruffy dunce.
As a smart ‘un I’ll see you make it.

“Hey Sergeant,
Would you take the round
That has my name scratched on it?
Would you turn the knife that would snuff my life
And earn a posthumous sonnet?”

Rhymes lad?
Who cares for those?
But aye, I’d stop your shell;
And dying curse my luck ne’er worse,
Then take your place in Hell.

“Hey Sergeant,
Would you shoulder pain
Should I be slain before you?
Would you bear it well as they toll the bell?
Would the Last Post merely bore you?”

Ah lad!
You ask of me
To bear sorrow, grief and such.
A straight lip to show while buglers blow.
Lad, you ask too much.

_________________
"Never look down on a man unless you're helping him up." Jessie Jackson

WO - one of my heroes. Thank you, but just to show I don't deserve to stand in his shadow, here is a real Owen:-

To My Friend - With an Identity Disc

If ever I had dreamed of my dead name
High in the heart of London, unsurpassed
By Time for ever, and the Fugitive, Fame,
There seeking a long sanctuary at last, -

Or if I onetime hoped to hide its shame,
- Shame of success, and sorrow of defeats, -
Under those holy cypresses, the same
That shade always the quiet place of Keats,

Now rather thank I God there is no risk
Of gravers scoring it with florid screed.
Let my inscription be this soldier's disc.
Wear it, sweet friend. Inscribe no date nor deed.
But may thy heart-beat kiss it, night and day,
Until the name grow blurred and fade away.

_________________
"Never look down on a man unless you're helping him up." Jessie Jackson