I remember watching Grandad
Whenever it would rain
He would walk around the house a lot
You could tell he was in pain
See, Grandad fought in World War One
Though he never said a word
He was hearing things inside his head
Things no one ever heard
He hated rain, it made the mud
And that's where it began
Fighting, deep within the trenches
Keeping dry as best you can
Everything was always wet
You fought the ***, and fought the sky
The battle in the trenches seemed
To find ways to keep dry
Fifty yards away, no more
The enemy was waiting
Would today be when we made a move
Both sides always waiting
There were no birds up in the sky
Just clouds and all that rain
That war was stuck in Grandads head
And it was driving him insane
My dad would watch as Grandad walked
To hide from that **** sound
You know that all he thought of then
Was that trench, and muddy ground
You'd wrap yourself in what you could
You'd use uniforms of the dead
Taken from your cohorts
Soaked in mud, and stained blood red
Boots, soaked through like paper
Feet wrapped up as best you could
The mud was everlasting
It covered everything but good
Dad, said it was painful
To watch Grandad on those days
He would hide so deep within himself
In a deep, dark, mental maze
The sun, it never dried the earth
The water just sat in little pools
With the sunlight bouncing off of it
Leaving drops shining like jewels
The smell, of rotting corpses
Piled high down at the end
Bodies of the fallen
The bodies of your friends
Dad said it was different
When he went off to fight
It wasn't like his father's war
It was just like day and night
I remember when my Grandad passed
It rained the whole day through
I remember as they lowered him
Now, I know what Grandad knew
The mud, the worms, the water
Filled his little six foot trench
And everyone was soaked on through
In my mind, I smelled the stench
I feel sorry for my Grandad
Because in truth, I like the rain
And I feel so sorry for him
That it caused him so much pain
The horror of the battle
And the act of keeping dry
You might defeat the enemy
But, not both...but, you'd try
I remember watching Grandad
And of how he hated rain
But, my Grandad was my hero
And, now I know...he's out of pain
