No Man's Land

(album: Manticore - 2022)

Dear mother, dear mother

Dear mother, dear mother
I'm writing you a letter
Your other. My brother
Isn't getting any better
We're huddled in the trenches
With no help from the weather
But I will not leave his side
And if we die we'll die together

I thought it was a dream
One that I could not shake
I woke up in the bitter cold
That solemn Christmas Day
A voice had broke the silence
I thought I might be dead
When I saw a teenage soldier
Wave his arms above his head

In no man's land
No man's land

He held a little flag
The color of the snow
He didn't speak much English
But he spoke what he did know
He said, "I have a little girl"
And a picture he did show

Comrade rendezvous 'cause just like you
We wish to be back home
From no man's land
No man's land
No man's land

Then more appeared unarmed
Steam rising from their breath
Singing "Merry Christmas Englishmen!"
I thought I had gone deaf
Right there among the fallen
Still frozen in their death
A temporary truce was called
The terms agreed and set

We drug our bodies back
We met each other's eyes
Swapping food and alcohol
And cigarettes and lies
On the ground between the ditches
The frost blanketing sand
We kicked a leather ball around
In no man's land