Historical Poems

Even in my old age, I am a young girl again when I think of great-grandfather's stories, telling me of when his father rode against the 7th Cavalry, and the one called Long Hair, with those who lived in the sacred Black Hills. Who fought and overwhelmed the soldiers in their one great victory at the Little Big Horn, before the killings of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, until all fell to the wrath of the Great White Father that ended at Wounded Knee.
 
Before then, it was as hot as any of the Elders could recall, and hard to remember a summer without any clouds in the sky. As horse...

Like papyrus blossoms
sprung from the Nile,
towering pillars stand
as a forest ablaze
with temple torch lights

While above, through crossbeams
of cedars from Lebanon
are seen constellations
that the pyramids of Giza
mapped out on an earthbound grid-
 
A stellar connection from the
golden seat of the Sun God,
to the darkness of the Underworld.
 
The One who graces this place
on such a night before the act,
whose success is sanctioned
by her utterances, comes-
 
The...

A loyal soldier of Rome
Only wants to get home
When a surprise attack
Leaves them stranded, wrecked.
Gathering survivors
He formulates a plan
Rescue their commander,
Then find the nearest garrison.
The Picts will not rest
Until each soldier is lifeless!
Neither side will relinquish,
All those who oppose must be extinguished!
Born to be a leader
Quintus will fight until the grave
Because everybody knows,
Being a legend gets you laid!


©Tanzen Lilly

Wrote this for the movie poems competition...Centurion is one of...

Dear Marlene………
Sweet heart of the dead
Adored by generations not yet born
Marlene we love you.

Your beauty burned the wings of JFK
And brought big John to his knees
For your love, was meant for more.
You shocked the World with a velvet kiss
An elegant truth in a sea of Fools

It took one voice to start a War,
One bullet to unite false prophets
One woman to speak out
You ostracized the Nazis for what they were.
Stood tall, through treason
Did not follow, Hitler’s Spell
Chose to Love America s freedom instead.

When...