Illustration by Joseph Lee from 'Work-a-day Warriors' by Joseph Lee, published in 1917
TIK, JOHNNIE!
"Tik, Johnnie!" (pronounce Teek—the friendly and familiar salutation between the British Tommy and his Indian comrade-in-arms, heard so frequently during the first year of the war. Freely translated, it means "good," "all right"; and many a time it seemed to render more tolerable, desperate and well-nigh intolerable conditions.
Allah Dad and Hira Singh,You and I fought for the King!Hajal Moka, Suba Khan,You stood with us, man to man—Tik, Johnnie!
When we were tottering to our kneesBeneath a barbed cheval-de-frise,And struggling through the muddy miles,You'd meet us with a face all smilesAnd—Tik, Johnnie!
When we were crouching in the trench,And choking in the smoke and stench,The bullets falling like a flail,You'd pass us with a friendly hail—Tik, Johnnie!
And when, on stretchers dripping red,You bore the dying and the dead,With pity in your wistful eye,Your greeting seemed half sob, half sigh—Tik, Johnnie!
I've seen you leaning on a wall,Your head smashed by a rifle ball;You've smiled, and raised a hand, and criedTik, Johnnie!Then turned upon your side and died.
May Allah, when you go above,Grant you the Heaven you would love;And if our straying footsteps meetThen free and friendly-like we'll greet—Tik, Johnnie!
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