Just Thinking
By Hudson Hawley.
(In the Stars and Stripes.)
Standin’ up here on the fire-step
Lookin’ ahead in the mist,
With a tin hat over your ivory
And a rifle clutched in your fist;
Waitin’ and watchin’ and wond’rin’
If the Huns comin’ over tonight—
Say, aren’t the things you think of,
Enough to give you a fright?
Things you ain’t even thought of
For a couple o’ months or more;
Things that ’ull set you laughin’;
Things that ’ull make you sore;
Things that you saw in the movies,
Things that you saw on the street,
Things that you’re really proud of,
Things that are—not so sweet.
Debts that are past collection,
Stories you hear and forget,
Ball games and birthday parties,
Hours of drill in the wet;
Headlines, recruitin’ posters,
Sunsets way out at sea,
Evenings of pay days—golly—
It’s a queer thing, this memory!
Faces of pals in the home burg,
Voices of women folk,
Verses you learned in school days,
Pop up in the mist and smoke,
As you stand there grippin’ that rifle,
A standin’ and chilled to the bone,
Wonderin’ and wonderin’ and wonderin,’
Just thinkin’ there—all alone!
When will the war be over?
When will the gang break through?
What will the U. S. look like?
What will there be to do?
Where will the Boshes be then?
Who will have married Nell?
When’s that relief a-comin’ up?
Gosh! But this thinkin’s hell!
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