Bradley T. Van Deusen


Bradley T. Van Deusen




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Zero Hour
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Transcription


Page 18-19

ZERO HOUR

Grey stars agleam in a blank, dead sky
  Grey guns agrowl below.
Grey clad men out beyond the wire
  Grey fields in the star-shells' glow.

The barrage is a pounding symphony
  That ears attuned cannot hear.
There's something flicking the parapet
  There's something above you fear!

Not fear of "stopping one" above,
  Or fear for the man beside.
There's something flicking the parapet
  There's a fear you cannot hide.

"Stand by!" The rifle is cool in your hand
  And your heart pounds hard and quick.
There's something flicking the parapet
  Number Three of the squad is sick.

The rifle hurts the palm of your hand
  Like gripping a stiff, wire brush
There's something flicking the parapet
  "Walk slow through the wire, then rush!"

The whistle! The ladders! Up over the edge!
  And your legs seem stiff and sore.
There's something flicking the parapet
  Number Three is sick no more!

Grey stars agleam in a blank, dead sky
  Grey guns agrowl below.
Grey faces turned to the glowing stars
  Where men lie dead in a row.





Historical Notes


Bradley entered te army in 1922, so he missed World War I, but many of his buddies, and certainly his officers, would have filled the new soldiers with their stories and memories.



"Zero Hour" appeared in his poetry column in the University of Chicago Maroon, November 2, 1928.





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