Best Foreign Poems

While campaigning among South American civilians 

he got news of the death of three Brazilians

        He said he was vexed
        
        then he asked...

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I was living a reckless life,
without purpose or direction.

I was abandoned by my parents
I grew up in the system.

Love was so foreign to me,
in fact, I didn't think it was 
real.

I was hopeless and in despair,
when it came to life I didn't
care.

While I was living...

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Hearing conversations
Spoken in a foreign tongue
Serves as a reminder of
The folks we live among.

Immigrants from distant shores
Residing where we live
Add a little spiciness
With all they have to give:

Hints of other cultures,
Both alluring and exotic;
Customs that we might just find
A tiny bit quixotic.

When I hear people...

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In Syria we fought the French in 1941...
Foreign Legion and the Vichy French an 8 week war was won...
After battle with the slaughter, many bodies where they lay...
Don checked them as he oughta , found a gauntlet  golden hey...
Oh it glistened with its set...

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THANKSGIVING ON FOREIGN SOIL    thanks

It was November of nineteen seventy
At an orphanage in Vietnam
A group of weary soldiers
Served a dinner so sublime

The orphans were excited
This was a first for them
The soldiers were delighted
Up to now, things had been grim

The smiles on the...

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young of course
but strong
homeless sometimes
resilient always
she came to us on a Tuesday
walked up the hill carrying an old suitcase
full of her plays and poems
her ideas were magical.
they came at all kinds of times
while she was sleeping, vacuuming,
taking care of the children.
She was the most prolific...

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The sun shines brightly every day
On each colourful autumn morning
Who are we to dispute this simple equation
For what we observe in our daily life
In this cosmic myriad of unfathomable numbers
Of extraterrestrial activity
Like creatures from other planets
Foreign to us in our unique imagination
Or are they less...

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The Foreign Student

By Elton Camp

Ahamed’s command of English wasn’t so good
But to make a fine impression, he did all he could

He walked up to one of his professors in the hall
It was the South, so he nicely said, “Howdy y’all.”

“To be a member of your...

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Traveling life's murky waters,
Were these brave men.
My friends in dark jungles.
Dying for many who did not care.

Malaria and typhoid invisible enemies;
Still then, that occasional sniper bullet,
Snuffing out a life in an instant.
Fighting for country yet hated by some.

Freedom was all they tried to preserve,
While every...

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What, I wondered, would advanced age be like.
Sighting the elderly set my mind to rousing.
Becoming like them overtook me with fright.
But now I'm old with no need for browsing.

Memories of earlier days occupy my thoughts
Which time romances to render them splendid.
Now it's difficult to connect...

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Merde!
Nous sommes a la plage
Is all I can remember how to say.
Merde!
Was back in the (high-schoolish) day
when French was all the rage.
Merde!
Nous sommes a la plage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HA!  And I actually got admitted to college!...

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A lush green tranquil field
Hides it's secrets well
Once a muddy blood stained land 
Were many young life
Was sadly taken far from home
In a living foreboding hell
The rattling of the Huns machine gun
The deafening pounding of falling shells
Filled many young boy with dread and fear
Who shed...

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Ma langue française n'est pas assez bonne pour 
te dire ce que je veux tellement à dire. 
Les mots sont nécessaires pour tout l'amour, 
surtout pour le français: il va tiédir 
sans confessions très chaudes. Les belles paroles 
dédiées à ta beauté et les mots...

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What Love commands the train fulfills, 

The six thirty bounds to Coney Island 

Where the green Ubers awaits the passengers 

Morning greetings, (Urdu) of few words, were the 

 

Pakistan, rules Mermaid Street with the neon green 

Were too mama? where too, two dollars: 

A...

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such class
such grace
a lady of glamour
gold adornments
fit for a queen
gilded slippers at her feet
exotic as a mystical perfume
parading her culture
with flare and dignity
an ambassador
a diplomat
an empress
a goddess



AP: Honorable Mention 2021

Posted on September 20, 2019...

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