Fixed Bayonets

Standing in line
Awaiting in the trenches
Now the order comes
Fixed bayonets
As the whistles blow
Over the top you go
Towards enemy territory
Fixed bayonets
Moving forward
Hold the line
The dead and wounded
Left behind
No place for fear
In your mind
Benevolence
Is now declined
Across no man’s land
Through unbroken defences
Weapon gripped in your hands
Fixed bayonets
Onwards you march
Past the point of endurance
At the edge of sanity
Fixed bayonets
Cheek by jowl
Fighting at close quarters
Face to face
Destroy the enemy
Into the breach
For God, king, and country
Amongst the adversary
Fixed bayonets
Fighting for your life
With grim determination
As the bloodshed flows
Fixed bayonets
Moving forward
Hold the line
The dead and wounded
Left behind
No place for fear
In your mind
Benevolence
Is now declined
Cheek by jowl
Fighting at close quarters
Face to face
Destroy the enemy