The withered grave

"And if there the grave and eternal rest await us,
Withered flowers and desires grown silent,
I see above me the radiance of Spring –
Today I live, and today is mine!"

(Glafira Adol'fovna Galina in Жить! будем жить! [Live! We shall live!])
Huy (B)

After the war, leaving only my face into the green

"I knew a simple soldier boy
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.

In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.
 *       *       *       *       *
You snug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go."

(S.L. Sassoon in Suicide in the trenches)
Visé (B)

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