1916 Poems - Poems about 1916

Another dawn moment Another dawn crime Another act of violence In a violent desperate time. The firing squad paraded On the killing ground Every rifle charged but One with a blank round. They carried out the victim Tied him to a chair Filled full of whiskey Just to get him there. As one the rifles fired On the officer’s shout And then the firing squad Marched off and fallen...

Continue reading...

Look at Tommy go Watch him fall in neat khaki rows Bravely led Tommy bravely bled 20,000 went over the top 20,000 lay dead...

Continue reading...

Seth S. Gidley 1832-1916 I will never forget the rain that winter, And the landslide that still stains my grave. An evil cursed wind it was, Lacerating the drenched cliffs And descending gullies of Rubio Canyon, With wailing sheets of raining hell! My friends, as long as this life of ours, Continues with its temperate turning, You and I shall never see...

Continue reading...

Anna Pearl Longman 1900-1916 Dewey Hicks truly loved me. Loved me as Mark loved Cleo, Loved me as Pyramus loved Thisbe. We took many a determined stroll, With hands entangled delightedly, Down the cool expectant streets, Of this quiet Quaker town, Across the strident fields at noon time, Seeking a shady spot under the sun. Happily we found one, In the still sullen afternoon, Of my final day...

Continue reading...

Rosie Ortiz 1916-1936 The stars are my friends. They know of my many secrets. They remember my private musings. The stars cried tears for me. They placed fragrant roses upon my bosom. I sought to comfort them in their grief. I tried to hold them close in my embraces. Nightly now, I see them in my gazes. Midnight now, I hear their muted whimperings. What can...

Continue reading...

Ivey Walker 1887-1916 Verily, verily, my friends! You are all dead now. So I can speak candidly. I found out, When my ripe red rose bloom Opened early, mysteriously, Wantonly, as with all crazed flowers, Drunk with the wine of forbidden delights. I found out, There is no real meaning in life. Except in the insatiable passions Of the hopelessly human heart. Money. Politics. Education. Friendships, Status....

Continue reading...

Harry Boatman 1879-1916 It is true my friends. A man thinks of many things While on his deathbed. A man remembers and reflects and responds. He responds, as with a child, to The insistent pleadings and proddings of the wall clock, Responds and obeys, as with a woman expecting, to The cosmic commands of the moody evening tides. The incredible colossal circling globe, of Spasm and...

Continue reading...

Leander Skumfeldt 1864-1916 Truly my friends Dying was my greatest fear, while alive. My most dreaded Most detested of future experiences. Dying, finally, was my greatest achievement My greatest joy! My highest calling! The summit of my scant human existence! Old Whittier town, I have missed you indeed, Have missed the bumpy rides by wagon and horse To Los Coyotes, Have missed the starry nights of suave embraces In Sycamore...

Continue reading...

Brother, Brother Father, Son Nephew, Cousin Lay as one. Some together Some alone Some are named And some unknown....

Continue reading...

Even the dead reject this blasted earth. The ground, such as it is, Is freshly Antidiluvean, The corpses swim within its tumbled, heaving masses Blood and mud the mortar Holding the chaos together. The sun is weak, Ashamed to break the haze To bring to light the obscenities transpiring here. The whistles blow The troglodytes emerge From their respective holes, Staggering towards one another Through watery craters Over the...

Continue reading...

There is a kingdom inside all of us, That follows us wherever we go, It was God that put us here, It is God that takes us back, We don’t know when, we don’t know how, Our beloved Lolo, will take our love and our memories along with him to heaven… There is a soul inside all of us, That tells...

Continue reading...