Absurdity

Close by a river called The Somme,
Unshaven and no longer young,

I smile at the sudden calm

And grasp a ladder. Rung by rung,

My eyes climb slowly from the trench.

Above the mud, the men—the curse

Hurled at the silence and the stench

Borne by the wind—I search for words

To describe the indescribable.

Words fail me when I reach the sky—

So bright, so beautiful, so blue.

I wish that I could tell you why.