<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Camp-Follower</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">We</span> spoke, the camp-follower and I.</p><p class="line">About us was a cold, pungent odor --</p><p class="line">Gun-powder, stale wine, wet earth, and the smell of thousands of men.</p><p class="line">She said it reminded her of the scent</p><p class="line">In the house of prostitutes she had lived in.</p><p class="line">About us were soldiers -- hordes of scarlet women, stupidly, smilingly giving up their bodies</p><p class="line">To a putrid-lipped, chuckling lover -- Death;</p><p class="line">While their mistress in tinsel whipped them on....</p><p class="line">She spoke of a woman she had known in Odessa,</p><p class="line">Owner of a huge band of girls,</p><p class="line">Who had pocketed their earnings for years,</p><p class="line">Only to be used, swindled and killed by some nobleman....</p><p class="line">She said she thought of this grinning woman</p><p class="line">Whenever she saw an officer brought back from battle, dead....</p><p class="line">And I sat beside her and wondered.</p></div><p class="byline">-- Maxwell Bodenheim.</p></body></html> · Great War