When were rutted tracks replaced
By smoothly metalled roads
And petrol engined lorries replaced
Horse drawn waggon loads?
My brother was born
In that period in between
With a parity of horses and
Petrol driven machine.
Just seven years older
But five of them were war
And it was a different world
From that gone on before.
And the advent of peace
So changed the situation
That he and I might have been
Separated by generations
He the labouring rustic
Working hard on the farm
Me the Grammar school boy
No need for the strong arm.
Two very different lives
But right to the very end
He remained not just a brother
But an old and valued friend.
So many times we chatted
About the changes there had been
Caused by that bloody war and
Those seven years in between
I think of him in the village
Every time I go back
And wander down a remaining
Unmetalled rutted cart track.
