THE GAME OF BILLIARDS

S they had been fighting for
two days and had passed
the night, knapsack on back,
under pouring rain, the soldiers were
worn out. Nevertheless for three
mortal hours they had been left to
wait, standing at arms, in the puddles
of the high road, in the mud of the
soaked fields.

Weighed down by fatigue and nights
passed thus, their uniforms dripping,
they huddle together for warmth and
to keep themselves upright. Some
there are who sleep standing, propped
against the knapsacks of their comrades,
and weariness and privation can be