It was like Death had found me on his fist
Bullets spattered and churned out of the machine guns in front
Shells whined and whistled as they drilled men into the sinking earth
The brave little pawns charged out still
But soon their hearts would be ripped from their chests
Death’s skeletal hands ran red with their blood.
For those who had made it across, they were met with the horrors of hundreds of dead bodies
Strewn across the ground, one enemy soldier lifted a hand
A final plea for help
Then lay still, motionless
His body ran red with his blood.
As I looked back I saw a man
Drowning in pain from Death’s arrow burrowing in his leg
Drowning in his own helplessness as he lay there
Drowning in the sheer misery of living
Of still existing in this living hell
His leg pinned to the ground as it ran red with his blood.
Nothing I could do to aid him
Naught that anyone could do
For they all lay dead upon the barren land
I watched on, Paralysed
As he was drowning
As he drowned
The sky ran red with their blood.
- By Anson Chan
Remembrance Day 2023