Sandhurst

Go to the ant, O sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise. She does not need the orders of a General, Captain or Sergeant, she understands the need to harvest and store up food in the summer. (Proverbs, Chapter 6, verses 6-8)

Five long weeks take you to the brink

Five long weeks in which you think

On bullets and brass and not being last

To complete another meaningless task.

 

Sneer and snarl at rifle drill,

Show parades, runs up Sirmoor Hill;

Did column of route and stiff upper lip

Ever stop a Hook, a Hind or Hip?

 

Well maybe,

If the wiles of wicked fate

Should wash me in a war of wretched hate,

I’ll know how to march when I want to crawl

And I’ll know how to laugh through the worst of it all.

 

1992