what do you say to a dying man

[william williams]

What do you say to a dying man?

What do you say to a dying man?
Do you call him Bob, digger or mate
as you look at the face you have known so well
and the look in his eyes says: it’s late

You recall the first hand shake on a troop train’
with many men going to war.
Training in various military camps’
Wallgrove, Greta, Bathurst, Ingleburn and more.
To go hungry, have tired muscles and thirst,
the pub Duke of York where we had our last drinks
before leaving Australia’s fair shores.

A fleeting last thought of his loved ones
you knew from being his friend.
If you happen to live through this onslaught,
they’ll ask you about his life’s end

Just three minutes ago he was so full of life,
firing busts from a Bren at his hip.
The platoon attacking as it had many times before.
when all of a sudden he’s hit
A Japanese sniper, so deadly,
had fired from a dark weapon pit.

The sniper was caught by the last burst from the Bren.
and my best friend fell close at my feet.
“Tell them I tried” were the last words he said.

My words of goodbye froze on my lips



What do you say to a dying man? Queanbeyan's Captain Bede Tongs, a veteran of some of the fiercest fighting on the Kokoda Track 70 years ago, has had to grapple with that question.
The 91-year-old describes the experience in one of the many poems in a slim volume launched at the Australian War Memorial yesterday.
The fact his book was launched by former army chief Lieutenant-General Ken Gillespie is one indication of the high regard in which the former infantryman is held.

should anyone require more info please let me know Bill Williams

[Neville Briggs]

I really like that one Bill. It may not be in the strict convention of metre and rhyme but pretty close I think. well done Lots of passion and feeling in that.