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Mud – Poem by Earl Ray Brewster (during WWII)

Mud – Poem WWII – Earl Brewster

Now have you ever been to a place
That always seems to be muddy
Especially when you have to chase
Like mad to a dark brown “study”

We’ve made mud pies as a little kid,
I’ve seen mud in the brickyard,
I used to like it as all of us did
But to leave it wouldn’t be hard

Of course we don’t have places to go
but we do have to get to the “head”
Although you must also know
At night there’s a “can” instead

In spite of all of our engineers
And all of our ditches and stuff
Even long after the rain disappears
The going is pretty rough

You wonder as you slide around
And you grope through the blackness of night
Now you’ll keep your butt off the ground
And sometimes you don’t do it, quite

It’s bad enough during daylight hours
When you can see and not just feel
But at night it taxes a Chaplain’s powers
And his feelings are hard to conceal

so when a sunshiny day comes round
as they do every now and then
Considerable happiness can be found
Even though you’re in the pen

Even at the risk of preaching a bit
As a preacher must always do,
I’m sure there’s no doubt about it
That mud has a lesson for you

No matter how much mud there may be
Bright sunshine will always replace
The sloppiest stuff you ever did see
If life, with the right spirit you face

So bring on the sunshine as soon as you please
although we can take mud for a while,
But I can assure you we’ll feel more at ease
When we ask in the light of your smile