Returning To Miyanoshita. Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

Young Lieutenant Fujita has returned
In the early dawn to his village Miyanoshita.
His commander lent him his favourite mare
To make the trip across the mountains -
Slowly making his way through the mist
To his homecoming.

It was a boy who caught the train to Yokohama
In his navy greatcoat, buttons shining, kitbag packed -
But now a man returns from his duty to the Emperor.
How will he tell the village mayor of his service?
And speak to his own family - of steel melting as shells landed -
Of the losses of his friends?

He swam 18 miles to shore from the Hitachi Maru
When it was blown apart by Russian gunships
After spies had disclosed that it transported
A high calibre cannon that could win Port Arthur.
The morning is cold - when will he turn again
To seek his unmarked grave in Manchuria?