Voices of Silence (19 page)
Authors: Vivien Noakes
 | is the Navy that’s tied to the shore, They’ve lashings of beer, and provisions galore, How I wish I had joined as a sailor before I came out to Mesopotamia. |
 | are the orders we get from the Corps, Thank goodness by now we are perfectly sure If issued at three they’ll be cancelled by four – In this land of Mesopotamia. |
 | are the Postal officials who fail To deliver each week more than half of our mail; If they had their deserts they’d all be in jail Instead of in Mesopotamia. |
 | ’s the Quinine which we take every day To keep the Malarial fever away, Which we’re bound to get sooner or later, they say, If we stop here in Mesopotamia. |
 | ’s for the Rations they give us to eat, For brekker there’s biscuits, for dinner there’s meat, And if we’ve been good we get jam as a treat For our tea in Mesopotamia. |
 | are supposed to supply The Army with food, we all hope when they die They will go to a spot as hot and as dry As this rotten old Mesopotamia. |
 | is the Lake know as Um-el-Brahm Which guards our left flank from all possible harm, And waters old G——s barley farm In the middle of Mesopotamia. |
 | is the Victory won at Dijailah, I heard it first from a pal who’s a sailor Who read it in Reuter on board his Mahola On the Tigris in Mesopotamia. |
 | stands for Wonder and pain With which we regard the infirm and insane Old *…… …….. … ….. this campaign We’re waging in Mesopotamia. [* C ENSORED – E D .] |
 | are the ’Xtras the Corps say we get, But so far there isn’t a unit I’ve met That has drawn a single one of them yet Since they landed in Mesopotamia. |
 | is the Yearning we feel every day For a passage to Basrah, and so to Bombay; If we get there we’ll see that we stop right away From this wilderness Mesopotamia. |
 | I’ve tried very hand, and at last I had hit On a verse which this damnable letter would fit, But the Censor deleted it – every bit Save the last word ‘Mesopotamia.’ |
| | Chahels is really a horrible spot Where there isn’t a drop of drink to be got, Yet here we’re going to be left till we rot In the Middle of Mesopotamia. |
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