Their lips are moving and their eyes meet mine
I nod and smile a semblance sublime
The King Laughs so I laugh back
I yearn for emptiness off the beaten track
I’m forty now was nineteen then
From boys to soldiers from soldiers to men
Some judge some pity some laugh some hate
Some threaten me with God and the pearly gate
The left say killer the right say hero
I say `LEAVE ME` my tolerance zero
I walk through the forest then sit all alone
For a minute I feel peace away from human scorn
I watch a small bird with grass in its beak
It’s lands by my foot so beautiful but meek
It fluffs out it feathers and looks straight in my eye
Why can such innocence cause a grown man to cry?
I’m assaulted back to reality by two low flying planes
Curled up in a ball back at Fitzroy again
That minute of peace seemed more like an hour
I will cherish those seconds like a sin cleansing shower
The woods getting darker wind making trees moan
I feel cold but no fear in the dark all alone
As I trudge back to my car a bird chirps from the mist
A smile breaks my lips while clutching the grass in my fist.

Why do they look at me that way?
"He's not all there", I've heard them say
Leave me alone you faceless folk
To fight in war it ain't no joke
I've lost my wife my job my friends
Was it all worth it ,that all depends
I don't know why I feel this way
I took my oath I did obey
I killed because I was scared to die
By blowing those Sky hawks from the sky
Those retard bombs they drove us mad
They sent us on the Galahad
The screams of the dying, twisted metal shards
A floating burning hell of dead Welsh Guards
I did not cry for them that day
Why do they look at me that way?
My brain recorded events for me
I seem to torture myself with glee
In the capital Stanley we drank ourselves sober
The Sergeant Major said "The party is over."
They sent us back to our home shore
Amongst our families we were still fighting our own war
It's nearly twenty years since we won the day
Those painful memories just wont go away
I love my Country and my brothers in arms
On November the 11th I'll sing hymns and psalms
I will wear my medals with pride on that day
The only day of the year they don't look at me that way.

Oh that comforting smell of rifle oil
Cold metal against skin
Strength through superior firepower
Objective is to win
Advance to contact rounds firing a wall of steel
Dead mans click its bayonet time
Dear God this is for real
I stab at the flesh
Through fingers they grasp
Please die please die
How long can you last
Ammunition reload dive into next trench
The blood the cordite an ungodly stench
From whence came great noise
Now ears buzzing in silence
My brothers in arms
Unleashing just violence
This trench is now my home
My blood forever in soil
Clean rifle check map drink tea
Oh that comforting smell of rifle oil.

I'm happy and sad
Compassionate and bad
Can't sleep at night
Can't do anything right
I wanna be alone
But not on my own
I'm in love but I hate
I'm a burden on the state
I'm possessed by the war
I killed what for?

I see shrinks
I see doc's
Remember my arctic socks
I'm disloyal cause I'm ill
Is it right to kill
I can hide in a crowd
My face a grey shroud
I cry for no reason

My country shouts treason
All the pills and the booze
Make bad memories ooze
I was 19 in June
Under a bright crystal moon
I died that day
But I'm still here to say
For the brave and the free
My award PTSD.

God bless Tommy Atkins for taking the Kings shilling
He fought the Hun and did not run in the midst of all the killing
God Bless Tommy Atkins for his service in Korea
Against the Chinese hordes his bravery awards did not dispel his fear
God bless Tommy Atkins for service in the Suez canal
Government sent him there then they ran scared
Lost his leg got no medal lost his pal
God bless Tommy Atkins for service in Northern Ireland
In the Emerald Isle he saw humanity defiled
Through the bombing and killing he kept smiling
God bless Tommy Atkins in the liberation of Kuwait
He took his posionous jabs saw the burnt Arabs
Now he limps with an awakward gait
God bless Tommy Atkins for protecting the Balkan muslims
Instead of counting sheep sees dead babies in his sleep
With Croat skeletons in Chetnic prisons
God bless Tommy Atkins in his war against the Taliban
This war is just cause to stop Anthrax spores
In a hellhole called Afghanistan.

Mother help me please I'm cold and hurt and bleeding, I'm all alone and lost, please take me home dear Mother.
It's getting dark I'm in trouble now, I'm sorry Mother, I will eat my supper and go to bed, it's hurting a lot dear Mother.
Don't tell Father he will be mad, my trousers are ripped and my head is bleeding, please sing me a lullaby, I'm your
baby boy dear Mother.
My eyes are open but I cannot see, why do you leave me here to cry? I love you Mother.
The pain is so bad I cannot breathe, please bathe my wounds and make it go dear Mother.
I hear you Mother I knew you would come, please dry my tears, I love you so dear Mother.

"Sergeant you've missed a body over here, bag it and tag it."