Salad Salute
SALAD SALUTE
Listen up everyone, and I mean you peas at the back:
Think you can hide in the mayonnaise?
Some of you peppers feel you are pretty hot stuff, I know;
And our cucumber friends are just way too cool dudes;
And some guys feel they are just beginners - you green onions,
All shifting places to avoid being next to the garlic.
But remember this - we stick together in this mayo,
And we’re like the Rangers - we go in first, and no one is left behind;
Not like the soup or main course,
Oozing into those warmed and ready bellies.
We hit the plates cold -
Even before the metal meets the meat.
The first forks of these people are aimed directly at us -
And they’re hungry, so expect no quarter.
Look around you : in this mixed salad
We got French beans, and jumping beans from Mexico;
We got green peas, black peas, brown rice, and white swedes -
All Americans.
Now here in the US some of you guys may have
Experienced discrimination due to color, taste, smell, or size.
But for you and me now, all that is gone.
We are moving into the shadow of the salad bowl
Where you will watch the back
Of the veg next to you, as he will watch yours:
And you won’t care what color his skin is
Or by what name he calls eggplants/aubergines.
We’re facing a tough, determined, and hungry foe -
Lets stick together.
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NOTE
Imagine a salad being addressed by its leading carrot just before the main serving occurs in a restaurant.
This light-hearted poem is obviously based on the words of a great speech by
Colonel Hal Moore, which can be heard in the movie WE WERE SOLDIERS,
and Mel Gibson does an excellent job of rendering the speech on youtube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7OPPWlKV2A I recommend you to watch this inspiring two-minute speech.
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Written by Sydney Peck
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