Afghan Days Babylon Nights

These poems are an imaginative tribute to the soldiers of this and every age.

They communicate the fear of death, the guilt of survival when comrades have fallen, the pride and the comradeship of being a soldier, whether on campaign with Caesar or in the dry dust of Helmand. 

They conjure up a host of scenarios and feelings that every soldier may experience – 

what it’s like to be convinced that a bullet has your name on it and watch it pass you by, taking your friend instead; 

-     what it’s like to be on the frontline and to be left by your wife;

-     what it’s like to experience the after effects of war with PTSD;

       -    what it’s like to return to civvy street as a bodyguard and find it all empty

             and meaningless, compared with the visceral immediacy of combat;  

what it’s like to look down on a crumpled body below you, and realise that it is yours.

More unusual are the intimations of what may await ‘Across the Wide River’, in leaving the body and in what happens afterwards, with delicate evocations of the thin veil that separates the two worlds, and with subtle impressions of immortality.

This is an extraordinary set of poems about war, which convey the depth of the human condition, with their down to earth humour, wry irony, and acute observations of the life of the soldier, brought into stark focus by the presence of death. 

Being a soldier is the only profession where a young person finishes their training and then within a short period of time can be confronted with the actuality of their own mortality.

Soldiers can be on the edge of life and death; it is the common currency of the frontline fighter.

There is a compact between society and the armed forces to guarantee its protection.

Society owes a great debt to those who are literally prepared to put their lives on the line for that protection.

The history of the world has always been one of conflict, and the soldier in every age has  been the face of that conflict.

The poems are dedicated to these soldiers.

About Paul;

Paul has been writing since 1951, when at the age of eight his teacher asked him to compose a sonnet.  More recent work includes a pantomime of Aladdin in verse, and ‘Walter the Whale’, a story in rhyme for children.  He has also written a performance piece for children based on Plato’s Theory of Archetypes, called ‘The Story of Everything’.  More recently he produced a collection of songs, stories, sketches and poems: ‘Bringing it all Back Home’, which he has delivered at events including conferences, with friend and fellow actor Anthony Mulligan.

‘Afghan Days, Babylon Nights’ appeared unsolicited as a narrative thread which Paul followed during the conflict in Afghanistan.  It was originally written for two voices, in order to raise funds for military charities, and a CD version was recorded.  The stage version was a mixed media event with large screen images, music and verse, raising several thousand pounds.  Repeated requests for a book prompted this edition, which blends words and images, and includes a CD of the words and music.

In 2009, Paul appeared with Dame Vera Lynn at a fund-raising event for FLOW, the Forces Literary Organisation Worldwide, where he read his contribution, ‘The Gurkhas Betrayed’ in an anthology of war poems: ‘Poems of the Poppies.’

Now in his 70s, Paul is still writing about matters of life and death, those universal, perennial topics that poetry serves so well.