Casualty

As with varnish red and glisteningDripped his hair; his feet looked rigid;Raised, he settled stiffly sideways:You could see his hurts were spinal.

He had fallen from an engine,And been dragged along the metals.It was hopeless, and they knew it;So they covered him, and left him.

As he lay, by fits half sentient,Inarticulately moaning,With his stockinged soles protrudedStark and awkward from the blankets,

To his bed there came a woman,Stood and looked and sighed a little,And departed without speaking,As himself a few hours after.

I was told it was his sweetheart,They were on the eve of marriage.She was quiet as a statue,But her lip was grey and writhen.