Little James sneaked out to the garden
Mummy had just popped to the shop
"Stay inside" she said "I won't be long"
but the back door was not locked.
Little James ran up to the fish pond
too close, his little feet gave way.
The invalid neighbour Tom saw this,
from his window, where he'd sit all day.
Helplessly, Tom called out from his wheelchair
(a landmine had mangled his legs in Iraq)
he struggled out of the chair he hated,
falling painfully onto his back.
Flashbacks of crawling, as shells exploded,
his mates around him, dropping
but he remembered his medals, he didn't get them
retreating in fear, or stopping.
The pain was burning away at his legs
as he crawled through the hedge, teeth clenched,
he reached the pond, pulled Jimmy out,
the little body, limp and drenched.
Tom covered the boy in his dressing gown
pumping his chest, 'til he felt a breath,
then suddenly Tom felt a searing pain,
absurdly late, a soldier's death
Tony Bradley
