Poetry competition CLOSED 6th June 2013 3:38pm
WINNER
JustWondering
JustWondering
MILITARILY SPEAKING
i fell in love in the army
now love is hardly
the thing on my mind
i feel like a carny
but dont even start me on that
my career ends tomorrow
im feeling kinda hollow.
i saw war and love and neither were fair
i look at things now and i dont even care
on the fridges of life as an adult
all i want to do is revolt
i found God or He found me
i feel like a thunderstorm under a tree
and anywhere else
is a better place to be
but this too shall pass right?
there a tunnel of light?
silver edge
to the rainclouds of death
the valley of the shadow
death with a halo
missile with a payload
driving off cliff
daydream while i day-load.
guns in faces is the closest i came to my calling
i never pulled a trigger on a man
i wish i had seen it
his life gone falling
but I'm back in America
I'm keeping it together but
people ask me questions
and my answers don't impress them
so i avoid the topic
i try not to profit
off the names of my brothers
killing men, becoming numbers
i want to go back
and kill that man with a family
i look to that moment
and i know i could never be
the person i am
with a soul undamned
had i pulled that trigger
and let the feeling linger
so i beg for God's forgiveness
for my twisted imagination
I thank him that i served my best
and pray for my civilian duty station.
now love is hardly
the thing on my mind
i feel like a carny
but dont even start me on that
my career ends tomorrow
im feeling kinda hollow.
i saw war and love and neither were fair
i look at things now and i dont even care
on the fridges of life as an adult
all i want to do is revolt
i found God or He found me
i feel like a thunderstorm under a tree
and anywhere else
is a better place to be
but this too shall pass right?
there a tunnel of light?
silver edge
to the rainclouds of death
the valley of the shadow
death with a halo
missile with a payload
driving off cliff
daydream while i day-load.
guns in faces is the closest i came to my calling
i never pulled a trigger on a man
i wish i had seen it
his life gone falling
but I'm back in America
I'm keeping it together but
people ask me questions
and my answers don't impress them
so i avoid the topic
i try not to profit
off the names of my brothers
killing men, becoming numbers
i want to go back
and kill that man with a family
i look to that moment
and i know i could never be
the person i am
with a soul undamned
had i pulled that trigger
and let the feeling linger
so i beg for God's forgiveness
for my twisted imagination
I thank him that i served my best
and pray for my civilian duty station.
Red White and Blue
We sing my country tis of thee
to the land that breeds the brave
men and women who are strong and proud
for the freedom they all fought to save
give special thanks to the vets today
maybe give them a hug and kiss or two
show them that they are appreciated
for the things they were trained to do
Red, White and Blue stands for America
and Ol' Glory, which so proudly we hail
was so gallantly streaming all around us
showing pride for our country without fail
God Bless America, this sweet land of liberty
land where our fathers died for what they believed
we honor soldiers for their selfless sacrifices
salute them, give thanks for the freedom we've received
Still a Soldier
To painful to stand at attention
the way he could back in the day
but this man he is still a soldier
in his heart, will always be that way
He fought his entire life for our country
chose a career Americans can never repay
I'm thankful for all he has given
more than my words could ever say
We are Blessed with various freedoms
gifts that were given to us from him
this man he is still a soldier
May God Bless him and his "Hero Within"
This man he is still a soldier
and he casts a big shadow to fill
to the men and the women still fighting
I salute you all, and I always will!!
To painful to stand at attention
the way he could back in the day
but this man he is still a soldier
in his heart, will always be that way
He fought his entire life for our country
chose a career Americans can never repay
I'm thankful for all he has given
more than my words could ever say
We are Blessed with various freedoms
gifts that were given to us from him
this man he is still a soldier
May God Bless him and his "Hero Within"
This man he is still a soldier
and he casts a big shadow to fill
to the men and the women still fighting
I salute you all, and I always will!!
Anonymous
Those Six Month Tours (of Duty)
I'd sit out on the docks
watch the tide, the sky
the ships and subs docking
or departing
always leaving or arriving
with someone's family aboard
those waiting, always crying
I wondered why
still do
but those flags would fly high
sometimes they'd all stop
and salute it
usually when it flew half-staff
and death hung on the breeze that blew it
I'd watch little kids run away
from the soldier who'd disembarked
with open arms, because it'd been too long
watch heads hang, bodies leave the yard
while their life sailed away
to conquer Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan
war games land
every land
but home
where we all sat, broken
wondering where home was
I'd sit out on the docks
watch the tide, the sky
the ships and subs docking
or departing
always leaving or arriving
with someone's family aboard
those waiting, always crying
I wondered why
still do
but those flags would fly high
sometimes they'd all stop
and salute it
usually when it flew half-staff
and death hung on the breeze that blew it
I'd watch little kids run away
from the soldier who'd disembarked
with open arms, because it'd been too long
watch heads hang, bodies leave the yard
while their life sailed away
to conquer Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan
war games land
every land
but home
where we all sat, broken
wondering where home was
http://www.revbilly.com/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/choir_slide.jpg
I heard Heaven but they didn't hear Me
2 July , O125
Young vivacious voices sang in the next room
A church choir rejoiced on TV
Their singing echoed in my head as if it were hollow
But I laid there
Frozen
He was done with me
Shredded my loins
Beaten
I tethered in this web bloodied and swollen
Face down
Jeans pulled to my waist on his kitchen table
The hungry pants and gasps for air were
No longer mine
No longer his
It was that damn pudgy faced nasty slobbering mastiff of his,
Quasimodo
He witnessed it all
And he looked like he had seen it before
Yet he cocked his head as if searching for
the answer to some interstellar riddle
He was still drinking that gin
As he zipped up his pants
He raised his glass as if toasting to my health
Walked around the table
Surveying my whimpering carcass
He stepped aside to let me go
He would not impede me
Be steady
But be swift
I can't let him do this to me again
Again?
Did it happen at all?
He was bigger than me
Stronger
I did fight, right?
No it didn't happen
Then why was I bleeding
“Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 25:41
Television still on as I crossed his yard
31 July, 0830
"You want to report what?" my commander demanded of me
"You're talking about your squadron leader."
"Decorated five times in three tours in the sand."
"A husband and father of three."
'Yes sir' stumbled over my lips each time
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat this for you,
because you know his story will vary.
What this will do to him, and do
to you will be a quite scary."
"Yes sir"
This pangolin faced troll's only concern was
the clerical nightmare it would bring
He wanted to dismiss it as some petty matter
That I needed to reform my way of thinking
Hoping this fad would pass like I was some teenaged girl
21 August, 1435
At my court martial
I could still hear that chorus singing
A brutal homicidal act was what the judge had said
Then my life sentence was summarily read
As the two MPs started to lead me away
My commander only had one thing to say,
"Robert, did you have to shoot the dog too?"
"Yes sir."
I heard Heaven but they didn't hear Me
2 July , O125
Young vivacious voices sang in the next room
A church choir rejoiced on TV
Their singing echoed in my head as if it were hollow
But I laid there
Frozen
He was done with me
Shredded my loins
Beaten
I tethered in this web bloodied and swollen
Face down
Jeans pulled to my waist on his kitchen table
The hungry pants and gasps for air were
No longer mine
No longer his
It was that damn pudgy faced nasty slobbering mastiff of his,
Quasimodo
He witnessed it all
And he looked like he had seen it before
Yet he cocked his head as if searching for
the answer to some interstellar riddle
He was still drinking that gin
As he zipped up his pants
He raised his glass as if toasting to my health
Walked around the table
Surveying my whimpering carcass
He stepped aside to let me go
He would not impede me
Be steady
But be swift
I can't let him do this to me again
Again?
Did it happen at all?
He was bigger than me
Stronger
I did fight, right?
No it didn't happen
Then why was I bleeding
“Then he will say to those on his left,
‘Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Matthew 25:41
Television still on as I crossed his yard
31 July, 0830
"You want to report what?" my commander demanded of me
"You're talking about your squadron leader."
"Decorated five times in three tours in the sand."
"A husband and father of three."
'Yes sir' stumbled over my lips each time
"I'm not gonna sugarcoat this for you,
because you know his story will vary.
What this will do to him, and do
to you will be a quite scary."
"Yes sir"
This pangolin faced troll's only concern was
the clerical nightmare it would bring
He wanted to dismiss it as some petty matter
That I needed to reform my way of thinking
Hoping this fad would pass like I was some teenaged girl
21 August, 1435
At my court martial
I could still hear that chorus singing
A brutal homicidal act was what the judge had said
Then my life sentence was summarily read
As the two MPs started to lead me away
My commander only had one thing to say,
"Robert, did you have to shoot the dog too?"
"Yes sir."
The Rifle Butt Diplomats
I was twenty two naive and a little scared
Of the many dangers we had shared
Felt pity for souls who were not spared
Dead in the ditch from shotgun wounds
Cutlass hacked the life from others
Daughter’s mothers lie raped, draped
Across bloodied beds some with no heads
Their bodies scream silently
Justice! Where is justice?
Police all of one ethnicity look on without pity
No point arresting when no one’s attesting
To the crimes of these awful times
We try to make sense of it all
Answer each urgent call
Been in a war before but nothing like this
Can't sleep can’t dismiss
The nightmare of my days
We become clinical, cynical
Administer justice of our own
Thump a head, break a bone
Rifle butt diplomacy it’s called
And, if you’re appalled,
Tough shit! This was the reality of it:
We meet a man laughing in the street
Waving a cutlass, high on rum
Says man I’m glad you’ve come
I ‘it me neighbour wit me cutlass
An’ im ‘and fell off
Shows us the hand, starts to laugh
Damn, ‘im only a coolie man
If we arrest him police release him in a couple of hours
But for this moment he’s ours
Big Bill’s as mad as hell
Steps forward slams him in the gut
Then brings down his rifle butt
Upon the man's naked foot
I hear the scream, the crack of bone
I whack his head he falls with a groan
“You maim a boy then brag and scoff?
Let’s hear you laugh that fucker off”
We’re just peace keepers so it's said
But demons live inside my head
Drink a bottle of rum every day
But those demons just won’t go away
And even after all these years
Sometimes, like now, I’m reduced to tears
What the hell was it all for?
British Guiana ‘64
I was twenty two naive and a little scared
Of the many dangers we had shared
Felt pity for souls who were not spared
Dead in the ditch from shotgun wounds
Cutlass hacked the life from others
Daughter’s mothers lie raped, draped
Across bloodied beds some with no heads
Their bodies scream silently
Justice! Where is justice?
Police all of one ethnicity look on without pity
No point arresting when no one’s attesting
To the crimes of these awful times
We try to make sense of it all
Answer each urgent call
Been in a war before but nothing like this
Can't sleep can’t dismiss
The nightmare of my days
We become clinical, cynical
Administer justice of our own
Thump a head, break a bone
Rifle butt diplomacy it’s called
And, if you’re appalled,
Tough shit! This was the reality of it:
We meet a man laughing in the street
Waving a cutlass, high on rum
Says man I’m glad you’ve come
I ‘it me neighbour wit me cutlass
An’ im ‘and fell off
Shows us the hand, starts to laugh
Damn, ‘im only a coolie man
If we arrest him police release him in a couple of hours
But for this moment he’s ours
Big Bill’s as mad as hell
Steps forward slams him in the gut
Then brings down his rifle butt
Upon the man's naked foot
I hear the scream, the crack of bone
I whack his head he falls with a groan
“You maim a boy then brag and scoff?
Let’s hear you laugh that fucker off”
We’re just peace keepers so it's said
But demons live inside my head
Drink a bottle of rum every day
But those demons just won’t go away
And even after all these years
Sometimes, like now, I’m reduced to tears
What the hell was it all for?
British Guiana ‘64
Anonymous
Winner soon poets...
Anonymous
This competition was REALLY hard to judge....so many great writes here. I felt the emotion in all the writes and in excruciating fairness picked the winner....Everybody else was a runner-up....thanks for entering this comp, your heartfelt-talented writes, and service if you served....
Strider
Strider
