Peter Wullen - "1917"

.
1917

they say

you have to be
at least 110
to have lived

the great war

it is not true
i know it is not true

i have been there
i carry the war within me
all the time

big disease inherited
from my stepgrandfather
chalked truce in my lungs

encapsulated bacillus
that can be traced back
to the trenches at pervyze
i will die with it

crooked finger
bullet hole
in soldier's cap

we are the true survivors
singing heroic songs
about the front

his name was
angel

(11.11.2008)