I DO NOT KNOW YOUR NAME

I DO NOT KNOW YOUR NAME

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died

Your uniform, branch of service, it matter not to me
Whether Volunteer or Conscript, or how it came to be
That Politicians' failures, or some power-mad ambition
Brought you too soon to your death, in the name of any nation.

You saw, you felt, you knew full well, as friend and foe were taken
By bloody death, that your life too, was forfeit and forsaken
Yet on you went and fought and died, in your close and private hell
For Mate or Pal or Regiment and memories never to tell.

It was for each other, through shot and shell, the madness you endured
Side by side, through wound and pain, and comradeship assured
No family ties, or blood line link, could match that bond of friend
Who shared the horror and kept on going, at last until the end.

We can not know, we were not there, it's beyond our comprehension
To know the toll that battle brings, of resolute intention
To carry on, day by day, for all you love and hope for
To live in peace a happy life, away from bloody war.

For far to many, no long life ahead, free of struggle, pain and the gun
And we must remember the price that was paid, by each and every one
Regardless of views, opinions aside, no matter how each of us see it
They were there and I cannot forget, even though I did not live it.

I do not know your name, but I know you died
I do not know from where you came, but I know you died

Kenny Martin 2003


Harrogate Cenotaph