AT FIRST

The first day we scarcely knew each other

Soldiers from different units and divisions

Not all speaking the same language and some

Not speaking any language at all. I was pretty sure

The man beside me had been on the other side

But felt it would be impolitic to point it out

By twos and threes, by ones and less than ones

We found each other in the dark, in the cold;

The dead were there, of course, but by morning

Had wandered off. The bugler had lost his horn

So stood on a rock and shouted us awake.

We formed ranks and waited for the corporal

Who thought a bit and pointed south by southeast.