InArms A project for the Edmonton Poetry Festival

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Poem of the Week

The Gravedigger

May 31, 2010

The air is still
On this dark night

As he digs
Just out of sight

He does not know
Who the grave is for

Doing his job
As he did the night before

All he knows as he digs down
Earning pay for the growing mound

His employer…
A stranger…
It’s no matter

“My family will eat in the morrow
I won’t have to borrow”

Tired with his hands sore
He’s reached the quota 6 feet or more

He goes to bed, the night is over
A loud bang, a blinding flash,
Yet another dead soldier.

As she cries but we just spoke on the phone
“Can’t wait dear, soon I’ll be………home.

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About this Page

This page contains a single poem called “The Gravedigger”, written by Cpl Cedric Hachey. It was posted here on May 31, 2010 as a Poem of the Week. From here, you can navigate to older and newer poems (take a look just below the poem on this page), or you can see the complete list of poems.

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