Not here the guns and bayonets,
the barbed and twisted wire;
the trenches and the foxholes,
the bombs and bloody mire.

This is another battle
with harbingers of death
and regiments are fighting
with every living breath.

For everyone’s a hero
who has served and played their part,
the front line and the rearguard,
with mind and soul and heart.

Yet, though they’ve been applauded
and we have stood in awe,
crisis followed crisis ...
how could they take much more?

But, from new depths of duty,
compassion found a way
and hope shone through the rainbow
as night gave way to day.

Our Majesty now takes the lead
and with her we confess
our deepest debt of gratitude
to our great NHS.

(c) 2021 Graham Oakes