Christmas, 1916.

Christmas, 1916.[i]

Another Christmas Day is here,
The day of kindness and good cheer.
‘Spite of many a past misgiving.
There are some of us still living.
So everyone now gladly sends
A Christmas greeting to his friends.
And in a land that’s far away,
May we all meet next Christmas Day.

To all whose wounds are such we learn
As to prohibit return,
You we send a hearty greeting,
Trusting soon to have a meeting,
Then to those who’ve “worked their ticket,”
The tired ones who couldn’t “stick it,”
We wish you luck, we’ve go on well in spite of you.

And comrades, you , who hear no more
Bursting shell or cannon’s roar,
We turn the leaves of Memory’s book,
And in your eyes once more we look,
The reverently, each in its place,
Salute each well-remembered face.
And as you fade again from sight
We toast you silently, to-night.

A.H.C.

[i] Williams, L. (1916). Christmas, 1916. The Twentieth Gazette, 2(3), p.5.