Best Enlisting Poems
The symbol of remembrance is the red poppy
When I look upon it, this is what I see,
I see courage, sacrifice and extreme bravery
See thousands enlisting to defend their country.
I see other nationalities, every colour and creed
Who came to help England in her hour of need
I see water filled trenches with deep mud and rain
I see flashes of gunfire and hear the wounded in pain.
I see and hear the big guns that sound like thunder
I see a Europe at war slowly being torn asunder
I see the deadly yellow clouds of dense mustard gas
Hear the cries of those poor souls breathing their last.
I see the battles that were won and some that were lost
I hear the sounds of victory that came at a great cost
I see the graves of the fallen who gave us that victory
Remembering the sacrifice they made for their country.
I feel the pain of the mothers who gave us their sons
At wars end feel the peace when they silenced the guns
We mourn all those that died and for them we must pray
But war is not the answer we must seek a better way.
When you wear your poppy always do so with pride
Honour two minutes silence for the brave fallen who died.
So the next time that you look upon that little red poppy
Just pause for a moment and tell me what you see.
Written 16th May 2018.
How endearing the innocence of life was,
When blissfully it started, with a blank canvas,
Cherishing in mother’s love and warmth,
Happy as can be, cuddled in loving arms,
Flaunting vigor of adorable, zealous charm.
Life ran into hurdles as it learned to walk,
Stumbled, yet got up, after every fall,
Giggled and babbled, learning to talk;
And from gibberish, as cogent words formed,
How flawless, pure, beginning of life was!
Soon, as it donned unique shape and form,
Colors adorned fabric of once empty canvas,
In brushstrokes of inspiration and resolve,
Enlisting hope, amidst despairs of loss,
And beams of light upon tenebrous clouds.
On ambitions it thrived, braving passionately,
Yet, encountered unbearable abyss of grief
As doubt and dismay churned in defeats
And failures sprouted within complacency,
Deviating from path of purposeful deeds.
From inner peace, as wisdom vibes chimed,
Life freed from mundane, agitation of strife,
Triumphant when dreams and reality rhymed,
Questing for tranquility in eternity of time,
Retouching feats-unfinished on canvas of life.
Tis not I that shall reveal one poet for promotion
Have mercy on this fledgling for having that notion
Equally, I admire many with awesome devotion
Everyone I've met has been so friendly and kind
Singling out just one? To do that, I'm not inclined
Simply put, Thanks to all those who come to mind
Encouraging me until my poems are more refined
Not one of them shall be overlooked or maligned
Comments made to me are supportively aligned
Each time I sign in, I read their poetry and unwind
Opposed am I, to paying tribute to merely one
For that good reason, I'll drop the names of none
Perhaps you think I'm wrong to think this way
OK, but I won't choose as if they were on a buffet
Enlisting poets to honor one another? I'd say 'yay'
To do it in a fashion in which many are on display
Sorry if this hurts your feelings. I've had my say.
Why am I missing you in Wyomissing
In Wyomissing where WiFi waves warp Whitman's words
I'm wiki-wishing scrolling through digitized déjà vu
Mississippi .mp3s Mississauga .gifs Missy Elliott remixes
Mishmash of missed misplaced hyperlinks missing persons
Y-chromosomes yearning in Wyomissing DNA double-helix twisting
Your LOLs a lyric lipslock softly #hissing history rewriting
From Issigeac to Missouri's twisted Twitter feed Insta-stories fleeting
Absence makes the heart grow fonder indeed™ (patent pending).
Persisting thoughts insistent as pop-up ads spam in the place where I lived
Roaming data plans streaming memes gone mad mad libs mad love
Enlisting Siri Alexa cosmic GPS Googling "how to forget ex"
To where your heart might choose to compress decompress or stay perplexed
In Wyomissing I sigh and I sit bit by bit byte by byte
Sky vast as the cloud no storage limit limit does not exist
Committing to journey's jumbled algorithm rhythmic logarithm
To find you love my heart's lost rhythm arrhythmia of the soul
Dismissing doubts like spam keep on insisting
Our love's a flame forever resisting
Extinguishing persisting through trials by fire(wall)
Never desisting crossing all area codes morse codes zip codes
Twisting paths and listless constellations celestial navigation
I'll travel far ignoring Terms & Conditions contractual obligations
Transmitting love my heart's submitting committing omitting
To find you no more words omitting remitting or permitting
So here I am in Wyomissing's embrace interface about-face
Memories of kisses a lingering trace copy-paste ctrl+z can't erase
From Mississippi to Issigeac's charm disarm false alarm
I'll roam the world semantics disarm semantic fields semantic yields
But as I search for truth's revelation information overload
A twist so dark beyond explanation quantum entanglement implodes
In my quest I find a terse text next perplexed hex
From you my love "New phone who dis" Dismissed missed kissed-off list.
In Wyomissing where dreams unravel travel advisory
I learned the truth your heart's new travel Marvel universe multiverse
My heart now shattered can't keep dismissing missing hissing
Y R U ghosting me in Wyomissing Existing in digital abyss sing
Y am I missing U in Wyomissing?
“Wind Song”
When the rain came it raised a torrent
music, little by little, raised the levy
light pebbles rolled over one by one
took with them
all their
flotsam and jetsam
leaves ferrying Black Ravens carried on
Brook babbling
listened to the birds scrabbling
singing -
“I am the one!"
"I am the one!”
Fed them bread and thanksgiving
Fat and feathered their over fed pride sung
Red Robin turned with the Wind,
flew red currents away from the Aviary in full swing
Spreading wings, riding on their Wind Song
She sings She sings
(Lovejoy-Burton, August 2018)
"Home is where your story begins."- Unknown
1. Levy
impose (a tax, fee, or fine).
"a tax of two per cent was levied on all cargoes"
synonyms: impose, charge, exact, demand, raise, collect, gather; More
archaic
enlist (someone) for military service.
"he sought to levy one man from each vill for service"
noun
an act of levying a tax, fee, or fine.
"police forces receive 49 per cent of their funding via a levy on the rates"
synonyms: tax, tariff, toll, excise, duty, fee, imposition, impost, exaction, assessment, tithe, payment; More
historical
an act of enlisting troops.
"Edward I and Edward II had made substantial use of the feudal levy for raising an army"
2. Levee
an embankment built to prevent the overflow of a river.
a ridge of sediment deposited naturally alongside a river by overflowing water.
a landing place; a quay.
'Tis well known that when medicating cats they can become rather crabby,
So, this free advice is provided when feeding pills to the family tabby.
As if holding a baby, cradle the cat in the crook of your left arm.
(Wrapping both arms with towels wouldn't do any harm!)
Putting pressure to the cheeks, open his mouth, jamming the pill down his maw.
(Apply bandages to the gashes on your jaw left by Felix's lethal paw!)
Since he wouldn't swallow the pill, pick up the soggy mess from the floor,
And try to tackle the little rascal as he streaks for the open door!
Next, kneel on the floor with the cat firmly gripped between your thighs.
(Enlisting your spouse's aid to subdue the critter would be very wise!)
Place the pill on the end of a drinking straw and blow it down his pharynx.
(Taking care not to swallow the pill yourself or damage his delicate larynx!)
After using naughty and nasty language that is here best left unsaid,
And coaxing the rowdy patient from beneath the king-sized bed,
Try forcing his clamped jaws open with a handy tablespoon.
(Then, pick up the shattered vases that all about the room are strewn!)
After chasing the scoundrel around the neighborhood on an exciting spree,
The fire department should be called to rescue Felix from the neighbor's tree!
Then, call the local animal control people to pick up the cat from hell!
Later, call the pet store to see if they have gerbils, fish or parakeets to sell!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Echo world behind the glass,
I make the same faces I did at twelve.
The grinning Cheshire Cat
with teeth like piano keys,
mendacious and coy
because viewing my portrait with sobriety
forces me to march with familiar frailties.
I’m certain my gravitas is a forgery.
I am sure my laments and torments are
playacted animation.
Their drama is loathsome.
Instead, I turn my left eye toward my nose
while keeping the right straight.
This contortion masks multiple blemishes.
I summon my childhood buffoon, making
self-mockery hide all my impairments.
Concealing them by exposing them,
I become the object of my own joke.
What guise can be greater?
I am Charlie Chaplin getting kicked in the rear.
I am Soupy Sales hit by a sloppy pie.
With this impression, I never need to try.
Flashbacks on the wall.
They all die like Curly Howard.
Laughter is short-lived glee,
after which the spirit secretly craves.
My life is made of printed images
on a carnival tent.
Memory fragments are all I hold,
each enlisting some particle of my journey.
Yet with this, I find another way to fit into
a clown car,
another way to do my pratfalls,
another way to get my pants pulled down.
Accepted for publication: The Opiate, Spring 2024
Only nineteen so proud and brave
such choices he had made
Either spending each passing day in jail
Or enlisting and say goodbye and fairwell
The latter choice he did made
signed up and turned in his clothes of fade
Standing tall tried and true
Inside he had matured and grew
Metals pinned upon his chest
A Marine looking at his very best
Battling a war on foreign soil
And to think it was over a barrel of oil
Nam Napples S Korea to say a few
Recon missions for civilians he did not knew
Getting shot at by rapid sniper fire
In a friendly zone where people retire
Writting letters and sending pictures from afar
Of tanks planes and bombs blowing up cars
Placed on an island alone for seven days
snakes bugs fish the land he had to alone graze
They said he was a child no more
But a Marine to come and explore
Today he is fifty one and a grandfather of two
And the Marines now wants him back because he was few
Mind altered and steady strong
Im glad to have my brother back where he belongs
But I will never forget that day he left
When his life was nothing but a big turmoil mess
Thanks to the Marine who I had watched and grew
My Brother wearing his colors of Red White and Blue
Tribute To
My Brother Ray
{Hu Ra}
Thanks For Serving
The Magna Carta changed the rule of law,
That is, what the law was and who it was for,
From being a simple, dashing validation of the king,
To being about truth, reason and justice free-standing.
The Charter came into existence in 1215 with a rebellion,
Against King John and how he forced his will:
He could seize anyone’s cart, steal anyone’s livelihood,
Take their corn to dismiss whatever self-worth they’d tilled.
The barons and churches were given power:
Rights from illegal imprisonment and theft of money;
The church was allowed to worship and theologise,
Until John was not a legitimate monopolising authority.
However, church rights were only important,
Because in those days God was the small talk;
The conversation point and heartfelt social cause,
Such that religion became the concern of the first clause.
The Charter let ordinary people become,
Individual citizens, equal human beings to the king;
Saved them from their position as submissive servants,
Made them represented, and eventually self-ruling.
It allowed for the charging of taxes,
To raise an army of representative citizens,
Fit for the job of fighting and controlling,
Rather than simply enlisting those who were just willing.
Individualism as a pejorative term,
First appeared in the 1830s from the Owenites;
John Stuart Mill fostered and influenced it greatly,
Such that it's now a non-negotiable fundamentality.
Political governance needs individualism,
Albeit not as much as the tories would say;
Existentialism succeeded it and is implied by it,
Because meaning is your call and not the monarchy’s play.
There were many more Charters after that,
And they all specified the ordinary persons right,
To a fair trial and to state justice yourself,
With your imprisonment being your prison officer’s fight.
Rights and liberties pre-exist their enforcement,
And the original Magna Carta admitted that stout;
Gave people their intrinsic worth as human beings,
Created a people-centred land of devolved clout.
If we were both in Paris
We on different time zones
Always coming and goin
I’m on this lonely balcony
Cigar smoke blowin
I’m as lonely as Gatsby
Cloaked in white with blue
All the way down to my sox
Looking at the time on the clock
It’s awful lonely when does your ship dock
When does your flight land
When does your car port
Get out the flutes, Pop the cork
Roll out the red carpet,
Your outfit crème and sorbet
Deliciously clad in a dessert shade of sherbet
Make up perfect
You glided in floating
Amongst the stars
And I’m gloating
You finer than a miracle
You celestial, angel
Hot air balloon delivering
A cold piece descending
My face says it all no pretending
That’s when I awaken
From this dream
So real it all seems
The neighbors heard me scream
I miss you terribly
I’m just too embarrassed
This wouldn’t happen if we were both in Paris
I just had to ask
Didn’t want to come off crass
I think fast, on my feet and I outclass
The best of them and the rest of them
we give shade as we pass
I come baring gifts, not to harass
A one way trip outta here
Imagine if we were both in Paris
Staring at the Eiffel, surrounded by fine
Art, and fancy cuisine, can’t you feel the love in the air
Let’s get into a little espionage
Pull back the shades sleep in
It almost feels like a mirage
Love is my alibi
Passion is my disguise
If I’m captured head quarters will disavow any knowledge of my mission
Will you come to find me enlisting the foreign legion?
If there was any doubt whose kiss is sweeter
Sweeping me off my feet with a daring rescue
I found a keeper!
Together atop this most romantic of city views
from the highest peeks on top this terrace.
This fairytale could truly happen if we were both in Paris.
Tree house is a house of forefathers
Roses beautify bed together
Enlisting its use which no one bother
Empty envy, loving hearts rather
Humidify the clay moulded by porter
Oath we should take either
Useful for future said by author
sensible use which do not destruct weather
Eternal joy of protecting it is wonder.
by:-
vrushani thaker
A few nights ago, a young man dined at my table who has already served our country for several years in the US Army. He is presently considering re-enlisting, feeling that is where he belongs. Daniel and thousands like him take no pleasure in war, but rather, in my view are a special breed of human beings. They are among those of whom Christ spoke in his sermon on the mount, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God". Matthew 5: 9. Without patriots and warriors like them, I can only imagine chaos and mayhem the world over.
As of July 2018, for 45 years the USA will have been utilizing an all-volunteer military. Prior to 1973, some youngsters of my generation decided to run off to Canada rather than be drafted. They were known as draft-dodgers. May we leave it to history to determine whether or not their reasoning was justified at the time. Presently my heart is focused on those who have served, many of whom were tragically wounded, and others who as Mr. Lincoln would say, 'gave the last full measure of devotion'.
Therefore, may we give the utmost respect to those who submit to orders without question to go anywhere, anytime, and for any reason offered by their country. What willingness to volunteer, and if need be, offer up the ultimate sacrifice for one's country. What courage; what commitment; what dedication; what loyalty. Words sometimes pale in attempts to describe their service. These ladies and gentlemen are indeed lovers of people, makers of peace, and preservers of freedom.
Oh Daniel, child of God and son of my dear friends, I was honored to have you dine with my family a few nights ago. I marvel and am deeply moved by your desire to serve this great country. This Memorial Day, I pause to honor the wounded warriors and the fallen heroes. With gratitude, I reverently celebrate and salute you and other gallant soldiers of America.
Lay down beside me,
I’m terrified of facing,
The days that will come.
It began simply with a chance encounter
When you pointed to a white cactus flower,
The one you loved amid bounty of colors
When eye-contact held us frozen together.
Soon after, you left with your aromatic air
Leaving behind coyly your heart in my care,
Like a treasure quite rare, I held it close
Till I returned it to you with newfound love.
As we continued to see sites on our tour
You took my sight and held my pleasure,
Accepting shyly when I offered my shoulder
Greeting with a look of fascinating glamour,
Giving me a hug without a physical touch
Stealing my eager mind, claiming it's yours,
Enlisting my gestures to say words of cheer
Delighted by acclaim you wanted to hear.
Exchanging hearts we parted each other,
That's when you gave me your cactus flower.
I hold it in your stead when memories tear up
Mindful, you faded as the flower curled.
March 6, 2018
Eclectic
Be mindful of the Logical Fallacies.
When enlisting proxy's honor yourself and qualify them.
If you ask direct questions respond in kind.
Qualifying ones self as obtuse will not excuse duplicity.
Choosing doesn't preclude choice.
Those who speak of omissions have omitted.
Don't speak if you don't want your words spoken.
Don't write if you don't want your words read.
When you ask for privacy expect an audience.
If you sue for peace expect war.
When you strive for humility it may be construed as vanity.
Suffer not bigotry even from within ones own.
Hate brings vengeance invest in neither.
Have faith in your convictions and speak them plainly.
Do not emulate that which you abhor.
The wisdom of the crowd isn't always wise...
© veritatem voluntatem 2016