War Is Upon Us

• Nicole Thwaites, Grade 6
• Poetry
• 2016

He stopped. He froze. He heard the earsplitting sound of gunfire.
Was this the end?
His mind started to wander, thinking about home. But where was home?
1,000 km away? 2,000, 3,000…? How would he know?
Stuck in the trenches for one year already.
Missing his home, the warm hugs, home cooked dinners and even his bed with his blanket and his beloved teddy. How he missed teddy.
Frozen. Lying there. Tucked under the trenches. A 17 year old boy.
Hopeless. Helpless. Why did he lie about his age?
He stood, staring around. Preparing himself to drag out a dead body.
Blood oozing down the sides of the walls. They weren’t even walls.
Just bags full of sand to protect you.
He heard. He saw. His eyes transfixed on people screaming -
“Help mercy”.
The two words that chorused around the valley, as the Germans
pointed guns at their heads.