Out of the early morning light
Came the sound
Of a thousand horse and men
Amid the dust and acrid smell of horse and sweat
A single horseman burst from the pack
And rode toward me
In my dream
He pulled the horse
To a sudden stop
He dismounted then announced
I am Lieutenant Harry Morant
Otherwise known as Breaker Morant
Horsebreaker, Soldier and Poet
Those Men you see to the left
Are the Men who fought with me
Those Men you see to the right
Are my former enemies
Now we ride as one
We were out in the veldt
Fighting the Boer
The way he fought us
We applied rule 303
We caught them
We shot them
Under rule 303
I only followed orders
I was born to life
I was born to serve
Major General Kitchenor
The appeal for a lessor sentence
You denied
The sea showed you no mercy
On the Hampshire you did sink
I Lieutenant Harry Morant
A bullet from the Men
With whom i did ride
No cover for my eye
Shoot straight, shoot well
For i was willing to die
With those last words
He mounted his horse
And rode into history
October 2009
Allan James Saywell
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-lost-poem-3/
