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<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=397660" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Ballade of the guard commander</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">II</div><div style="margin:10px 0">At dusk the sun sets fiery red<br>behind the bushes<br>where in beauty it brings tranquillity to the bush-veldt.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">There are guards that I inspect as commander<br>where they stand neatly in a platoon<br>and I look at them one after the other and then right through them</div><div style="margin:10px 0">walk to the guardroom on top of the shooting tower<br>and in the camp in the operational aria<br>every thing is in order, the guards are capable.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Early in the evening another officer<br>comes and plays a game of chess<br>and we drink icy glasses of beer</div><div style="margin:10px 0">but when it gets later their is silence and peace<br>as if it’s just another evening in a thousand<br>and for some time I am still attentive to my duties</div><div style="margin:10px 0">until the shadows draw out long against the walls, <br>my non commissioned officer starts to yawn<br>and I lie down on my camping bed</div><div style="margin:10px 0">telling him to take charge, while I get tired<br>and sleep closes my eyes, <br>when an explosion wakes me.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>II</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br>Somewhere in the camp another bomb explodes, <br>I grab my firearm instruct the shooting tower to start firing<br>and fear is in me – that the general is going to come.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Tracers cut tracks through the night<br>torches are fired into the sky<br>and outside it’s bright as day</div><div style="margin:10px 0">and we fire into the bushes<br>while I cannot determine where the enemy is <br>and do not really know where the firefight had started.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">In the camp another bomb explodes, <br>I see a trooper throwing a hand grenade<br>and I am totally astounded</div><div style="margin:10px 0">and fear is in me – that the general is going to come, <br>what am I going to say about what is happening here, <br>what am I going to report about the men below him? </div><div style="margin:10px 0">It’s clear that it’s no enemy attack<br>and on the watchtower I lift my rifle<br>and when it resounds it’s an own man, an acquaintance</div><div style="margin:10px 0">that I shoot down before he throws some more hand grenades<br>and everybody thinks that an enemy bullet pierces him, <br>while they shoot into the bushes and fire at will.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">III</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The morning is grey<br>and rainy when the day breaks<br>while there’s fear in me</div><div style="margin:10px 0">where I have got to give account<br>about wounded men in three tents<br>and the death of one I carry with me, </div><div style="margin:10px 0">while soldiers are on patrol in the bushes <br>and with a knob in my throat, <br>I know that no enemy is there and feel tired.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">When I notice a helicopter it is clear that the general is coming<br>and the Lord knows that I had to shoot an own man, <br>but what will I show him of the preparedness of the camp? </div><div style="margin:10px 0">With narrowed eyes <br>we wait on the parade ground<br>and eight of my men are wounded.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">The dust rises from the turning blades<br>while the helicopter lands<br>and the blades turn slower.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">Out of the cloud of dust three figures walk<br>with the general looking inexorable, <br>while my ears sing from the noise of the aircraft.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Gert+Strydom">Gert Strydom</a><div class=q>
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<script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=397660" data-title="Ballade of the guard commander de Gert Strydom" data-description="II

At dusk the sun sets fiery red
behind the bushes
where in beauty it brings tranquillity to the bush-veldt.

There are guards that I inspect as commander
where they stand neatly in a platoon
and I look at them one after the other and then right..."></div>
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