EXIT STRATEGY
WHAT IS IT GOING TO BE
DO YOU KNOW DONNIE
WHERE THE MARINES GO
NO BOOTS ON GROUND THEY SAID SO
BUT WHAT DO I KNOW
From the Kentish marsh and river,
To the London city’s grime,
Pip sought status and a fortune,
Leaving Joe and honest time.
First, a boy of humble station,
Then a snob in fancy scenes;
He pursued a cold Estella,
Filled with self-improving dreams.
Miss Havisham, in a faded dress,
Lived within her home decayed;
Taught her ward to break all male hearts,
For the price her groom had paid.
Pip believed that she was his patron,
Fancied he’d an easy life,
But the truth revealed a convict,
Filled with penitence and strife.
Here’s a tale of class and conscience,
How true worth is found within;
Not in wealth or empty status,
But in kindness to all men.
When his “great expectations” vanished,
Pip found peace and honest work.
Learned that love and loyalty,
Are the values that don’t shirk.
**********
********** o n a i r l a n d a n d s e a
**********
********** w e n t to w a r a n d g a v e t h e i r l i v e s ~
**********
t h e y f o u g h t f o r f r e e d o m
What they don’t tell You
What the recruiters tell you:
“Be all you can be.”
“An Army of one.”
“Fly high with the Air Force.”
“Join the Navy and see the world.”
“Be the best. Be a Marine.”
“Join the National Guard and get an education and keep your job.”
Things recruiters leave out:
Watching your friend(s) go home in body bag(s).
The dirt and sweat.
C rations, K rations, MRE’s.
PTSD, suicides, drug addiction.
Limbs lost. Traumatic brain injury.
Bloated, decomposing corpses.
Dead men, women and children.
Fear so intense you soil yourself.
Lice, sand, dust, cold, heat.
The stench of death.
Families torn apart.
Long road to rehab or death whichever comes first.
What have we done?
What have we said?
What’s left to do?
When dead means DEAD.
Where do they go?
Where can they be?
Living a life in peace where free means free.
Humanity has failed the Afghans and yet
The power of the west sits on the hands of intent.
Demons hover over their shoulders
Demons with the sharpest of knives.
If we don’t let our soldiers do what they can do, we may never, ever lose this regret no matter how we sell each other the lies.
White markers salute, forever at
Attention, waiting for their flags
And flowers, visitors, and friends,
Watching over those who sleep,
The few, the proud, the souls
Who guard Heaven’s Gate.
Every May they all get dressed
With red, white, and blue and
A salute from those who follow.
Every November their birthday is
Celebrated by past, present
And future, a brotherhood known
By no other, a family created
Through a gauntlet, never to let
Each other down.
Shined boots salute as another
Comes to rest amongst a sea
Of white. A bugler’s call, a
Single tear, a silent goodbye.
Another guards Heaven’s Gate.
For Those Thrust into War's Maw
by Michael R. Burch
This poem is dedicated to Harvey Stanbrough, an ex-marine who was nominated for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize and has written passionately and eloquently about the horror and absurdity of war in “Lessons for a Barren Population.”
No, I will never know
what you saw or what you felt,
thrust into the maw of Eternity,
watching the mortars nightly
greedily making their rounds,
hearing the soft damp hiss
of men’s souls like helium escaping
their collapsing torn bodies,
or lying alone, feeling the great roar
of your own heart.
But I know:
there is a bitter knowledge
of death I have not achieved,
and in thankful ignorance,
and especially for my son
and for all who benefit so easily
at so unthinkable a price,
I thank you.
Published by Romantics Quarterly, Poetic Reflections and Poetry Super Highway as "Privilege." Keywords/Tags: Vietnam War, marines, military, service, honor, duty, bravery, heroism, maw, mortars, rounds, souls, escaping, bodies, corpses, death, heart, roar, bitter, knowledge, thanks, thank you, war, violence, USA, military, courage, patriotic, hero
These Boys, Now Men **
They died with pride on a numbered
hillside for they were Marines.
These boys, now soldiers,
taught not meek hand-holders,
taught how to fight
growing up overnight,
these boys, now men.
In a pointless strife
giving up life
these boys, now men.
What is now, what was then,
Heroes, all of them.
** Written after viewing my first episode being inspired by Ken Burns PBS TV series on Vietnam
--Jack Avergun
09/24/2017, 5:15 AM
White stars, red and white stripes.
Blue for loyalty.
Waving in the wind, instilling pride.
Reminding us of pledge.
Apple pie, Chevrolet, John Wayne.
Viet Nam, Gulf War,
Freedom of speech, freedom riders,
Free to think, free to be the best we can be.
Texas, California, Iowa, from sea to shining me.
State pride, rawhide, courageous side.
A cultural mix unheard of before the Pilgrims landed, and the Natives
Took pity and helped them live.
Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Veterans of Foreign Wars,
Germans, French, Italians, Scots, Swedes, African Americans.
All Americans, all united in that.
911 Hero pride.
Sacrifices. Pride to all of us, they were Americans.
All for one, a nation under God, my Country Tis of Thee
8/27/2018 My Country Tis of Thee Contest Sponsor: Brahn Bailey
The brave and the proud,
They stand out in the crowd,
They protect all our family and friends.
Their reputation lives on,
The few and the strong,
I'm proud to call one of them dad.
An aspiring marine
is assuredly green,
but he's not as much green
as a drowned marine.
Volodymyr Knyr
2014
four
US
marines
pissing on
the
corpses
of the
“enemy”
which in
the early 80’s
had been
supported by
the CIA &
the ISI---
giving those
most radical
“65,000 tons
of US made
weapons &
ammunitions
by the end of
1987” in the
attempt to stop
the “evil empire”
from polluting
others with their
crrrrrrrrazzzzy
communism---
these four present
day pissers serve as
a metaphor for
america’s treatment
of the world as a
whole.
1.kill them.
2.piss on them.
3.whine & say that
your strong code of
ethics in no way
warranted such
world domination &
oppression.
4. repeat with extreme prejudice.
WE
I are
feel one
your amongst
frustration EACHOTHER
I we
are
acknowledge united
your WHEN
pain we
LET fall
me OUR COLORS ARE STRONG RED WHITE AND BLUE
hold we
YOU
for
five stand together no matter what they say
MINUTES
to make
you YOU ARE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
OKAY
and that they cant take away
FREEDOM REIGNS!!!!!!!!!!!
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