Long Warmen Poems

The Tiger General
Hobbes

The Tiger general strode onto the field of battle,
Tail flowing eloquently as he walked.
And then he turned to his men and began to speak,
They fell instantly silent as he talked.

The general led his...

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Kokoda Efogi  1942....
The Japanese turned tail and headed north on twenty eighth September forty two. ...
They'd struggled round on mountains fought stopped near Moresby by the few. ...
Eighteen hundred went to stop ten thousand...

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There have been times in our land
When our nation has had to take a stand.

It first began at Bunker's Hill
Where so many men were then killed.

All through that war with the British King
Men here in...

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The Flag of the British Merchant Navy 

The Battle of the Atlantic

We’ve heard of the famous Mighty Hood that was sunk by a Bismarck shell
We know how many men were lost and the Skippers name...

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Die Rose,
die im Stillen mir schon blühte,
vertrocknet war sie schnell im Morgenlicht.
Und auch ihr Duft,
verging zu schnell, 
Wie kurz geträumter Traum,
der leicht  zerbricht.

Wo dürre Zweige
sich verworren zeigen,
im Dickicht,
hinter frischem Grün,
zeigen sich Blüten bunt
im Farbenreigen,
bevor...

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Ypres, was by far the worst:

Fields were littered with lost memories,
Dismembered dreams, 
Faded laughs and gestures-
The little nuances of life,
The things that made us tick...

All forgotten.

Some men walked among the bodies, smiling:
"Our fallen heroes, you...

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The air is thick with dust and flame, who started this? Who is to blame?
Shells and rockets rake the field yet neither side is like to yield
There’s no retreat, no going back, just blindly forward...

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"Over The Top!" was the battle cry of the First World War!
At the Captain's signal, from the trenches doughboys would pour!
Shoulder to shoulder with bayonets fixed, steel glinting in the sun,
On they rushed, some to...

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Die frische Luft zum Atmen,
die aus dem Regen steigt,
umgibt mich mit der
feuchten Ruhe eines warmen Tages.
Noch zeigt die Nacht nicht ihr Gesicht,
noch bleiben Stunden hell,
nur leichter Wind treibt 
Wasserperlen an mein Fenster.
Dann plötzlich der Hagel
wie...

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Where once Normandy's coast resounded with the din of war,
Now is heard the thunder of the surf racing t'ward the shore.
Where once was heard the screams of dying and wounded men,
Now is heard the mournful...

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Brave men brought together
To fly the bombers
To hamper the power
 
Enlistment their will 
To serve the free
All humble men 
As history will see
 
Hearts shaking
On this white knuckle ride
Hero's them all
Side by side
 
Outbound flights
Planes...

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All is serene tonight along the banks of Antietam Creek.
'Neath the brooding moon, the battlefield looks so bleak.
Bloodied ground was hallowed on this dire September day.
On the field this night, six thousand slain heroes lay.

Six...

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Old men steer world affairs and tend to dream and scheme,
While young men carry out their follies, forfeiting life supreme.
Brave Americans have died on The Altar of Honor worldwide.
They died so very young, all too...

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For five frigid days, strife raged upon the battlefield.
Men bravely struggled, yet neither side would yield.
By the flash of cannon fire they became stark silhouettes,
As they stormed from the trenches with slashing bayonets!

From dusk to...

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I saw those men in solemn chain trooping from the line
hand on shoulder, link to link their bandaged eyes gas blind.
The image burned upon my soul, and tied me to their chain
A scene imbued with...

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Men of our time warriors of war
Boys to men of another time 
The battle of within to survie
The cross that is layed as our friend lays dead
A world that is angry with all
No peace to...

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some men are born to be killed
some men life means nothing to

can old men hold their heads and cry
you can only dodge so many shots 
before you eventually take a a few
then it's about surviving

some...

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16th April 1746
The day a country ceased to exist
British Army, Hanoverian scum
Defeated our Jacobite's
Scotland is on the run
 
Our Tartans banished, bagpipes no more
To lead our troops, to frighten the foe
Cumberland's men hunt us down
In...

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((Prequel to 'Battle'))

The men sat in wait beyond the hill,
The outline of the enemy fortress
Just able to be seen.
Their candles flickered in the distance
Amongst the downpour of God’s tears
For the sorrow that was to come.
The...

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Long ago on rolling hills
And endless plains
Stood men who fought
For a cause beyond common understanding
Bound together by integrity
They persevered 
When odds gave no chance
Led by a man
Whose name was always half whispered
They made a vow
From...

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((Sequel to 'Awaiting' and prequel to 'Victory'))

The castle walls were crumbling.
Agonizing cries of terror pierced the night
But trebuchets continued to bombard
The aged and failing stone.
Arrows rained down from atop the battlements,
Hands moving from quiver to...

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Written in 1981 after attending a Viet Nam veterans welcome home parade.

They march in step without a cadence call
and wear old uniforms, if they still fit,
recalling days when they were standing tall.

Five services, they represent...

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"I want my Mommy.I want my Mommy",
I heard the young man cry.
That's how I made my living.
Watching young men die.

The boy had taken a bullet,
Right around mid-thigh.
It cut through his femoral artery.
Soon he'd bleed out...

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Pounding seas, wind tossed spray
Cold North wind, blowing night and day
The ice gripping men in disarray
The convoy ploughing onward

The merchant vessels, shadows in mist,
Weave and wind, wend and twist
Then disappear when torpedo kissed
The convoy ploughing...

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Stoically he faces the enemy hoards;
Emotionless and appearing almost bored;
Courageously, “Onward!”, his battle cry;
Masking the coward hiding deep inside.

Sending his men to certain death;
From a distance he witnesses many a last breath;
While he rides secure...

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