Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN NEXT YEAR'S SUMMER TIME, by WILLIAM A. PHELON


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN NEXT YEAR'S SUMMER TIME, by                    
First Line: I'm home. Yes. And safe. I should give
Last Line: And I want to go back to that place!
Subject(s): Brotherhood; Death; Friendship; Grief; Soldiers; World War I; Dead, The; Sorrow; Sadness; First World War


I'M HOME. Yes. And safe. I should give
Thanks, deepest thanks, that I live—
That I am not There with the rest
Of my bunkies—the ones who "went west"—
I'm home safe, and happy. And yet
Somehow, I just can't forget—
Somehow there's always a call
That's ringing—and asking—that's all!

Back, where the smoky dawn
Told how the fight had gone;
Back, where the rising sun
Might be the last that we'd see,
(Always the last for some pals)
There's something that's calling to me!
I know where a stretch of wire,
Ripped here and there by our rush,
Lies is it lay on the morn
When the sun broke red with a blush—
A blush for the brutes who held
The farther side of the wire,
And a blush for the things that came
After we burst through their fire!

And I want to go back to that place—
I want to sit there in the sun—
I want to lay a hand on each cross
That stands where we smashed in and won—
I want to say, "Pals, I am here—
Yes, fellows—I know you were MEN—
I wish you could stand here with me,
Or I could be with you again!"
Yes, it was muddy there—
Yes, it was bloody there—
Yes, it was living hard—
Yes, all the comforts were barred—
But say—it was worth it to learn
How the spirit can flame up and burn—
How the great souls of men can reveal
Themselves in a sheathing of steel—
How the love of a pal can count more
Than the love of the whole world before—
When the whirls of the fight come and go—
And I—I was there, and I KNOW!
I stood there—with MEN—for a space—
And I want to go back to that place!





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