I SPOKE TO YOU IN WHISPERS -BY NEIL ANDREW

‘I spoke to you in whispers

As shells made the ground beneath us quake

We both trembled in that crater

A toxic muddy blood lake

I spoke to you and pulled your ears

To try and quell your fearful eye

As bullets whizzed through the raindrops

And we watched the men around us die

I spoke to you in stable tones

A quiet tranquil voice

At least I volunteered to fight

You didn’t get to make the choice

I spoke to you of old times

Perhaps you went before the plough

And pulled the haycart from the meadow

Far from where we’re dying now.’

In memory of the 8 million animals who have died in conflicts throughout the world.