Beasts of the Trenches

Beasts of the Trenches, an homage to the book by Eric Baratay

Here I lie on the battlefield

Injured

I think I saw my Sargent die

One of his legs still has his boot on

Lies not far from my hoofs

I can hear the rats making house calls in his entrails

They do go to the trouble to feed themselves.

Now I remember:

I was galloping when a mortar exploded

It propelled me into the air like a Dove with flattened wings

Suddenly a war dog came to my rescue

It licked my bleeding abdomen

Before me and behind me the wailing of soldiers resounds

They are almost blind in this field where

Fog and smoke mix like a bourbon highball

We, animals, hear loud and clear above the darkened clouds

We can sense the poisoned air

"Nonsense!" I laugh to myself

And I see the clouds of flies approaching 

Signaling my end.

Written by a War Horse, Yser, France, October 22, 1914