The Glorious Dead

Row upon row soldiers sleep
not in beds but six foot deep
coffins for cots buried beneath our feet
or some shrouded in a sheet.

Their graves are marked by simple stone
in death they lie but not alone,
the Commonwealth commemorates those slain
meaning their memories won't wane.

Engraved on a weathered wall
are names to remind us all
that M.I.A. many men still abide,
the 'unknown' entombed worldwide.

Atop the central cenotaph
is etched an epic epitaph
honouring in bold “The Glorious Dead”,
in remembrance of their blood shed.

For in foreign fields they rest
all at ease in lines abreast
never again to see their native coast
fallen in for their last post.

- Ben P