Stalag VIIA

The Prisoner

by Stanley William Brian, 1971.

Often at night when sleep is nigh

My thoughts wander, and I stand by

A place I knew long ago

And see there a man I used to know

Lifeless, on the blood stained snow.

A prison camp, this awful place

And there within, a populace

Of men. Each one a prisoner like me

Each one with thoughts of family
Of home and friends, of Liberty.

Among this throng there was one man

Who, when imprisonment began

Vowed to us, "I will never stay

Inside this camp. I will get away

Or Death be the price that I will pay."

Throughout the day inside the wire

With heart and mind filled with one desire

He would walk, and plot and scheme

Till at end of day it must surely seem

'There is no way. 'Tis just a dream.'

Then one night a shout was heard

Then a shot, then the cry of a bird.

I thought of this man and heard him say

"I vow to you all I will never stay

Inside this camp. I will get away."

I saw him next morning stretched out - Dead

A blanket hiding his wounded head.

The snow at his side stained with fallen blood

And nearby a coffin of rough hewn wood.

Then I thought 'Was it worth it, where is the good?'

The good is a lesson for all to learn

That men will dream and men will yearn.

These things he did. Then gallantly

Conquering the Last Enemy - his spirit free

Achieved his Final Victory.