Long Bugler Poems

He’s called the Eulogizer
He reluctantly accepts this moniker as our elder
A name for which he feels disdain 
Since it conjures memories of unspeakable pain
 
He's lost a father, mother, sister and son
His nights sleepless realizing...

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I was only about four years old when I saw my mother crying
Two soldiers at our front door said something about him dying
When they left mom took me to one side and she said to...

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The coffin is in the hearse, flag draped with pride
The fallen one is silent, as he takes his last ride

He is not the only one, many before have also gone
Giving their life in battle, never...

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Not a flag was unfurled,
and no cornet trilled,
as the rain-swollen clouds,
the bleak valley filled.
 
The wind blowing cold
with a chill that pervades
as the caisson's old wheels
creaked through the glades
 
where leafless Live Oaks
their limbs upward...

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A mother’s grief

I never wanted you to go to war it was your father’s idea said it would make you a man to be away from me cut the apron strings he said. You were...

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I saw a burial with a bugler playing taps;
I turned to my father, “what happened?” I asked.
He clutched my hand and with a quiver in his voice,
he began to explain and his eyes became moist.

“My...

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At dawn the bugle's piercin' call roused troopers for another wretched day,
Of curryin' horses, shovelin' manure, drillin', guard duty and gatherin' hay!
Another day of bellerin' sergeants and pompous officers that they must obey!
This and more...

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This morning I stumbled out of bed and stood at rigid attention!
(I thought I'd had a nightmare and had lost my military pension!)
A familiar strain wafted across the valley and swirled about my ears.
'Twas the...

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Strolling about a military cemetery the other day,
In the distance I heard a solitary bugler play,
Twenty-four haunting notes for an honored son.
"Taps" was rendered for a hero, his faithful service done.

He proudly wore the uniform...

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A cavalryman's day was guided by a series of bugle calls,
The dulcet tones reverberating within the palisade walls.
Wanting to hurl a boot at the bugler for "Reveille" at dawn,
Instead he stumbled from his cot at...

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I have never been in a war…PEACE…I’ve lived it…breathed it…taught it…
but as much as I have hated war…I respect all those who fought it.

I’ve lived long enough to know …we all see the world through...

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Simple were my tastes as a Hoosier country boy.
I'd heard of the fancy grub enjoyed by the hoi polloi,
But what set my youthful taste buds aquiver instead,
Was a helpin' of Mom's home-baked ham and gravy...

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A lonely figure stands at attention
Old, feeble and walks with a cane
He patiently waits 
Despite his age would not complain.

A warm and gentle breeze blows
Where white headstone stood erect
And on this solemn occasion
He waits as...

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As the fox knocked persistently at the gate,
To save his hide ‘fore it’s too late,
The chicken guarding, stood his ground,
For the fox was sneaky he had found.

‘I’m sorry’ the chicken said out loud,
‘I guard this...

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It's never been so hard, to play my friend the blues,
It's never been so hard, to play my friend the blues,
Though right beside him I did sit,
I played out all the tunes.

Every day he got...

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Trumpet call
And all down tools,
People who don't live by the rules,
Listen to these trumpets calls
The caller is a hypnotiser,
A cad and a womaniser,
He is also a billionaire,
Without any savoir faire.
Avarice and powerful too
He tells others...

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THE LAST PATRIOT
"Let all the ends thou aimest at, by thy country, Thy God, and Truths.  Shakespeare

The bugler played Taps,
Shoes glistened in the sun.
Uniforms worn with pride,
To honor the last one.

Washington, Jefferson, Adams and...

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The old soldier, rheumy eyed and cold
Sits at attention in his wheelchair
Bemedalled chest heaving gently
Thinks of comrades not there.
Now just bones in cemeteries 
Some not even identified 
anonymous bodies collected
From where they died
To be laid...

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Pulsating honor doth corroded hearts impound
A blustery breeze echoes cries from each, preceding battleground
A recurring, eager parade of reporters, gawkers freely roam distant mound
Below, fatigued, tidy mass of steeled infantry; to death's throes bound
Neighing horses...

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The Battalion set out through the fields
Over mountain tops under cover of the night
Moonbeams flushed with shadows of clouds
Provided a permanent array of light
Two by two the marched softly side by side
Anonymous to trees and...

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ANOTHER MEMORIAL DAY

I think of those who lost their lives on battle fields below
And how we ought to pay respect and to them honor show.
And once each year we take the time to bow our...

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A sustained note sounded from across the river
Carried on the wind, destined for my ear
At first, I felt a shiver running down my spine
I heard a note from a solitary bugler so clearly.
Suddenly I was...

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The trill under the
morning star
rings out a gusto
and vivacious song.
Oh! Sweet merle your irrepressible melody
defies all that is logic, the chill piercing morning
still only an infant, barely the time
to receive the accolades of sunrise.
Yet here...

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THE LAST POST.............

Six soldiers bear a coffin, 
Of a comrade killed in war. 
The Union flag draped over him, 
A hero to us all. 

This soldier killed in battle, 
In a conflict overseas. 
A man...

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(December-January))

The brazen wind flows through the naked trees, where multitudes of scrawny fingers attached to stout limbs conduct the aria.

the trill of the dawn
awakes the sedulity
a sense of fragrance

Each perpetual morning a regimental instinct, drives...

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