If only they could talk.

If only they could talk? What a story they would tell, every scratch, every ding, every mark, every ping. What would they tell us?

If only they could talk? The fables, the tales, next to the card games on make shift tables. What would they tell us? 

If only they could talk? Every night after a battle they lay next to them in their bunk. In the filth in the funk. What would they tell us?

If only they could talk? The men who carried them, the women who married them.

What would they tell us?

If only they could talk? The enemies they fought, the lessons they taught.

What would the tell us?

If only they could talk? The training, in the dust, in the mud, while raining. What would they tell us?

If only they could talk? What would they hear? The acts bravery they had no fear!

What would they tell us?

If only they could talk? Day and night broken and torn, battered and worn always there ready to fight. What would they tell us?

If only they could talk. What would they tell us? Nothing they lay there silent, In honor, in respect of the brave men who carried them.

The Enfield rifle and the soldiers need not say a word their actions have spoken for them.