The Corporal
The History Reconstruction Arm
Of the Ministry of Offence,
Had called me in for a meeting
With the Chiefs of Recompense,
They said they needed an agent,
Prepared to risk his all,
‘We have the technology waiting
Now we need to change the world.'
The shelves in the shops were empty
People fought for a loaf of bread,
Butter was unobtainable
And so was cheese, they said,
The ration cards have been in place
For fifty years or more,
The money was spent on the army, sent
To fight this terrible war.
Thank God it hasn't gone nuclear,
But they said that it never would,
The threat of retaliation kept
The armies where they stood,
The Reds are commanding the channel coast
Right down to the Pyrenees.
And Britain is standing alone again
Though they've brought us to our knees.
The Fascists in Whitechapel
With their propaganda rule,
While down in Brixham Prison
Lie the hopes and dreams of fools,
They shot the Liberal Poets and
Wiped out the socialist left,
They say what's good for the country
Is the strong arm of the west!
The States are a bristling fortress
But they'll never come to our aid,
They say whatever they owed us
Was in 14-18 paid,
They've colonised the Pacific
Made New Zealand just a State,
Australia's turned their backs on us
And left us to our fate.
‘We've studied where it all went wrong, '
Said General Angus Pryde,
‘The Treaty of Rapallo is where
The hopes for peace had died,
That treaty, with the Russians helped
The Germans to re-arm,
Under the cloak of Soviet help,
That sounded the alarm! '
‘The man was Walter Rathenau
Who signed that evil form,
Sold Germany to the communists
That's where this war was born,
The Reds then flooded Germany,
The Reds took over France,
It was only the fact of the channel coast
That halted their advance.'
‘This Rathenau was the leader when
The war was first declared,
The whole of history hinged on him
And caught us unprepared,
So what we're now proposing is
The thing you need to do,
Go back, assassinate Rathenau
In 1922.'
‘Before or after the treaty's signed? '
I asked the generals there,
They each looked, one at the other, said
They didn't really care.
‘To stop the Communist Party taking
Over the German mind,
We'd rather a swing to the right, ' they said,
‘And the rest would fall in line.'
‘That would leave a mighty hole to fill,
The German leader's seat,
Who do you think would take his place
If I shot him in the street? '
‘There's only an Austrian Corporal has
The language, and the style,
But what would a Schicklgruber do?
Would the Germans still say ‘Heil? ' '
17 October 2012
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Nevermind
The war was lost
The treaty signed
I was not caught
I crossed the line
I was not caught
Though many tried
I live among you
Well disguised
I had to leave
My life behind
I dug some graves
You’ll never find
The story’s told
With facts and lies
I had a name
But never mind
Never mind
Never mind
The war was lost
The treaty signed
There’s truth that lives
And truth that dies
I don’t know which
So never mind
Your victory
Was so complete
That some among you
Thought to keep
A record of
Our little lives
The clothes we wore
Our spoons our knives
The games of luck
Our soldiers played
The stones we cut
The songs we made
Our law of peace
Which understands
A husband leads
A wife commands
And all of this
Expressions of
The Sweet Indifference
Some call Love
The High Indifference
Some call Fate
But we had Names
More intimate
Names so deep and
Names so true
They’re blood to me
They’re dust to you
There is no need
That this survive
There’s truth that lives
And truth that dies
Never mind
Never mind
I live the life
I left behind
There’s truth that lives...
I could not kill
The way you kill
I could not hate
I tried I failed
You turned me in
At least you tried
You side with them
Whom you despise
This was your heart
This swarm of flies
This was once your mouth
This bowl of lies
You serve them well
I’m not surprised
You’re of their kin
You’re of their kind
Never mind
Never mind
The story’s told
With facts and lies
You own the world
So never mind
Never mind
Never mind
I live the life
I left behind
I live it full
I live it wide
Through layers of time
You can’t divide
My woman’s here
My children too
Their graves are safe
From ghosts like you
In places deep
With roots entwined
I live the life I left behind
song performed by by Leonard Cohen, music by Patrick Leonard, lyrics by Leonard Cohen (2016)
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Let me remind you that nuclear disarmament is not just an ardent desire of the people, as expressed in many resolutions of the United Nations. It is a legal commitment by the five official nuclear states, entered into when they signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
quote by Joseph Rotblat
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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As the treaty made with the United States was the first treaty entered into by your country with other countries, therefore the President regards Japan with peculiar friendliness.
quote by Townsend Harris
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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With God On Our Side
Oh my name it is nothin
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the midwest
Its taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.
Oh the history books tell it
They tell it so well
The cavalries charged
The indians fell
The cavalries charged
The indians died
Oh the country was young
With God on its side.
Oh the spanish-american
War had its day
And the civil war too
Was soon laid away
And the names of the heroes
Is made to memorize
With guns in their hands
And God on their side.
Oh the first world war, boys
It closed out its fate
The reason for fighting
I never got straight
But I learned to accept it
Accept it with pride
For you dont count the dead
When gods on your side.
When the second world war
Came to an end
We forgave the germans
And we were friends
Though they murdered six million
In the ovens they fried
The germans now too
Have God on their side.
Ive learned to hate russians
All through my whole life
If another war starts
Its them we must fight
To hate them and fear them
To run and to hide
And accept it all bravely
With God on my side.
But now we got weapons
Of the chemical dust
If fire them were forced to
Then fire them we must
One push of the button
And a shot the world wide
And you never ask questions
When gods on your side.
In a many dark hour
Ive been thinkin about this
That jesus christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I cant think for you
Youll have to decide
Whether judas iscariot
Had God on his side.
So now as Im leavin
Im weary as hell
The confusion Im feelin
Aint no tongue can tell
The words fill my head
And fall to the floor
If gods on our side
Hell stop the next war.
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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What treaty have the Sioux made with the white man that we have broken Not one. What treaty have the white man ever made with us that they have kept Not one. When I was a boy the Sioux owned the world the sun rose and set on their land they sent ten thousand men to battle. Where are the warriors today Who slew them Where are our lands Who owns them....What law have I broken Is it wrong for me to love my own Is it wicked for me because my skin is red Because I am a Sioux because I was born where my father lived because I would die for my people and my country
quote by Sitting Bull
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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She Went To Germany
What you gonna do?
What you gonna do?
What you gonna do on your vacation?
What you gonna do?
What you gonna do?
What you gonna do for relaxation?
Change you name?
Cut your hair?
You can go anywhere.
You deserve some fun and rest.
You deserve the very best.
She went to germany.
Went there without me.
She went to germany.
Left me in misery.
She went to germany.
Gots some style insanity.
She went to germany.
Left me in disharmony.
Why you gonna do?
Why you gonna do?
Why you gonna do that to me baby?
Are you telling me were thru?
Are you telling me were thru?
Are you telling me were thru or is it maybe,
Just another declaration of some female independence,
Or another proclamation to some male friends in attendance.
She went to germany.
Went there without me.
She went to germany.
Left me in misery.
She went to germany.
Gots some style insanity.
She went to germany.
Left me in disharmony.
She eating wurst.
Shes drinking beer.
She loves a crowd, thats what I hear.
She went to germany.
Went there without me.
She went to germany.
Left me in misery.
She went to germany.
Gots some style insanity.
She went to germany.
Left me in disharmony.
She went to germany.
Went there without me.
She went to germany.
Left me in insanity.
She went to germany.
I gots some style in misery.
She went to germany.
Left me in disharmony.
Gordon gano: vocals, guitar
Brian ritchie: acoustic bass guitar, vocals
Guy hoffman: drums, vocals
Produced by brian ritchie and gordon gano
Recorded and mixed by david vartanian at dvs perversion room, milwaukee, wi
gorno music reprinted with permission
song performed by by Violent Femmes
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A Prophecy. February 1807
HIGH deeds, O Germans, are to come from you!
Thus in your books the record shall be found,
'A watchword was pronounced, a potent sound--
ARMINIUS!--all the people quaked like dew
Stirred by the breeze; they rose, a Nation, true,
True to herself--the mighty Germany,
She of the Danube and the Northern Sea,
She rose, and off at once the yoke she threw.
All power was given her in the dreadful trance;
Those new-born Kings she withered like a flame.'
--Woe to them all! but heaviest woe and shame
To that Bavarian who could first advance
His banner in accursed league with France,
First open traitor to the German name!
poem by William Wordsworth
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Stand Aside John Howard
Stand aside John Howard and leave some one else take over you've had your go and you've failed to impress
For seven years you've been Prime Minister of Australia and without you there would be more happiness
The Country would be better off without you and you've clung to power in such a sneaky way
History will treat you less kind than did the Aussie voters
It's time perhaps that you called it a day.
As a leader you have only been divisive and you'll always be
seen as a lesser light
The Country now needs someone with more goodwill a leader whom the people behind can unite
You fought the last election on boat people and you've clung to power by preying on the voters fears
Move over John leave someone else take over you've only caused mistrust in seven years
If you feel the Country cannot do without you here's news for you John you have got it wrong
You are just an old style tory politician and back there in the fifties you belong
Australia will go on no matter who comes or goes and the Country will do nicely without you
Stand aside John and take your huge retirement packet a good
P.M. Aussies are overdue.
Stand aside John Howard for you have had your innings and you've clung to power in your own cunning way
You won your last election at the expense of boat people on the fears of Aussie voters you seized your chance to prey
Your Government demonised misplaced people and as a P.M. you have been so small
And you have sullied an Australian icon the Aussie belief in a fair go for all.
poem by Francis Duggan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Blister
Take advantage of these times she said
You let me down.
It hasn't been the first time.
As I'm falling in the pit of fire my mind's made up.
I'm never coming back here.
and How long would it take me to walk across the United States all alone.
The West coast has been traumatized.
I think I'm the only one still alive.
Is it just a coincidence to see you by yourself with no direction.
Now it's time to move on.
Don't you know that things aren't getting better.
and How long would it take me to walk across the United States all alone.
The West coast has been traumatized.
I think I'm the only one still alive
When the world caves in what are you going to do for me.
Don't try and stop me.
Because I'm falling fast into this pit of fire which surrounds us all.
In a blanket of fear that I've been wrapped in for years.
don't try to stop me. You can't stop me.
and How long would it take me to walk across the United States all alone.
The West coast has been traumatized.
I think I'm the only one still alive.
and How long would it take me to walk across the United States all alone.
The West coast has been traumatized.
I think I'm the only one still alive
song performed by by Jimmy Eat World from Clarity
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shot At Dawn
Those deaths a shameful memory
Shot at dawn for cowardice.
Almost unbelievably
Young soldiers paid the final price.
They died because they chose to lie.
About their age to volunteer.
The normal rules did not apply.
Research has made it very clear.
That the army bears the blame.
That proof exists they can't deny.
To their everlasting shame.
They did not try to verify.
The age of youthful volunteers.
Although they could and should have done.
I'm sad to say that it appears
They rarely checked on anyone.
The generals and the brigadiers.
Did not care apparently.
That mere schoolboys of tender years.
Were enlisted readily.
To take the place of fighting men.
Already fallen to the foe.
They had to fill the ranks again.
So they pretended not to know.
How many shell shocked boys were shot.
Accused of being cowardly.
The brass hats knew but they dare not
Admit their failings openly.
The Great War ended long ago.
The guilty men have long since died.
But now at least the people know.
Despite the fact the army tried.
To hide the truth but they could not.
New evidence has come to light.
Which proves that shell shocked boys were shot.
Because they could no longer fight.
We understand shell shock today.
Much better than they did back then.
We view the world a different way.
We know that stress can cripple men.
poem by Ivor Or Ivor.e Hogg
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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If my theory of relativity proves to be correct, Germany will claim me a German, and France will claim me a citizen of the world. However, if it proves wrong, France will say I'm a German, and Germany will say that I'm a Jew.
quote by Albert Einstein
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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German Virile E-Coli Misdiagnosed
Ground breaking earth shaking Germany has done it again
first Germany introduced German measles then Adolf Hitler
now German E-Coli to rock reshape an entire watching globe
German crack researchers health experts could not even tell
this was a virile new E-Coli strain a hybrid of two old strains
or a rare highly toxic strain of E-Coli bacteria misdiagnosed?
Germany blamed Spanish cucumbers could not even identify
new strain next German experts will claim a carrot for radical
new research its E-Coli source German beans German beans
let us not forget Germany wanted Greece to sell their Acropolis
or rent it out to pay off EEC debt then cucumbers Spanish growth
time Germany sold trade peace compass plus Brandenburg gate
The disease Rubella, is also known as German measles, because it was first described by German physicians, in the mid-eighteenth century.
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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20th Century
Farms are burned down to the ground
and cattle slaughter just there in the fields,
while a super power forces women and children
into concentration camps to kill them there.
Railway tracks run crisscross over the country
and galloping horses and oxen pulling wagons
are replaced by roaring cars, lorries
and motorbikes
and people follow technology
as if it’s the new god.
When the stock exchange folds
people jump from the windows of buildings,
while they are out of their wits,
as if they have got wings.
Germans march past
and thousands in crowds
are giving a sigh heil salute
and in a peculiar way stay ignorant
about millions of Jews that are robbed
and killed,
as if they did not exist.
Bombers let bombs dropp like rain
on Britain and rockets
hit London almost unstoppable
and in the icy Russian winter
the Germans are reminded that they are humans
and from Stalingrad they are driven back
until the Russians claim some of Berlin
and half of Germany
as their domain
and almost every women there gets raped
and America drops the bomb on Hiroshima
and another time on Nagasaki
and their enemies are molten, burned and radiated
and after this war jets cross the skies,
rockets go to the moon
where man stands like a god.
l’Envoi
It’s the age were young boys
are shot into peaces in Vietnam, in Namibia
and Angola are sent to war,
where people loose respect for God
and try to solve everything with science,
where man becomes godly in his own eyes
and I wonder what the almighty God
thinks about this
while man is turn the earth to ruins
and are filling the cup
of the wrath of God?
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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If I was the head of a country that lost a war, and I had to sign a peace treaty, just as I was signing I'd glance over the treaty and then suddenly act surprised. 'Wait a minute I thought WE won'
Jack Handey in Deep Thoughts
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Angel Sent to Me
I met an angel when looking for a car
I didn't know it at the time
I just saw him from afar
but when he turned up at all the spots
that I was looking through
something made me walk right up and
say how do you do.
He said he was looking for a car
that we'd both seen all we could
He said the places we were in
had nothing any good
so I did something I've never done
I offered him a ride
to the city and bigger yards
where cars stood side by side
We found a yard with a perfect car
just right for my angel man
I found one too but had no money
and asked for a payment plan
The dealer smiled sleazily
smut was on his mind
He looked at me and winked his eye
and said 'your friend is kind'
He handed me the bunch of keys
to my chosen little car
I said hey I just can't pay
he said 'well here you are'
The man who had just driven with me
had left the place before
The dealer said he'd paid for my car
and there was nothing more
I signed the papers and drove away
in my new expensive gift
I've never seen the man again
who paid me for a lift
Now until this day I wonder,
was he really sent to me
was he an angel from above
poem by Janice M Pickett
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too?
Over There,
World War II.
Dear Fellow Americans,
I write this letter
Hoping times will be better
When this war
Is through.
I'm a Tan-skinned Yank
Driving a tank.
I ask, WILL V-DAY
BE ME-DAY, TOO?
I wear a U. S. uniform.
I've done the enemy much harm,
I've driven back
The Germans and the Japs,
From Burma to the Rhine.
On every battle line,
I've dropped defeat
Into the Fascists' laps.
I am a Negro American
Out to defend my land
Army, Navy, Air Corps--
I am there.
I take munitions through,
I fight--or stevedore, too.
I face death the same as you do
Everywhere.
I've seen my buddy lying
Where he fell.
I've watched him dying
I promised him that I would try
To make our land a land
Where his son could be a man--
And there'd be no Jim Crow birds
Left in our sky.
So this is what I want to know:
When we see Victory's glow,
Will you still let old Jim Crow
Hold me back?
When all those foreign folks who've waited--
Italians, Chinese, Danes--are liberated.
Will I still be ill-fated
Because I'm black?
Here in my own, my native land,
Will the Jim Crow laws still stand?
Will Dixie lynch me still
When I return?
Or will you comrades in arms
From the factories and the farms,
Have learned what this war
Was fought for us to learn?
When I take off my uniform,
Will I be safe from harm--
Or will you do me
As the Germans did the Jews?
When I've helped this world to save,
Shall I still be color's slave?
Or will Victory change
Your antiquated views?
You can't say I didn't fight
To smash the Fascists' might.
You can't say I wasn't with you
in each battle.
As a soldier, and a friend.
When this war comes to an end,
Will you herd me in a Jim Crow car
Like cattle?
Or will you stand up like a man
At home and take your stand
For Democracy?
That's all I ask of you.
When we lay the guns away
To celebrate
Our Victory Day
WILL V-DAY BE ME-DAY, TOO?
That's what I want to know.
Sincerely,
GI Joe.
poem by Langston Hughes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues
Well, I was feelin sad and feelin blue,
I didnt know what in the world I was gonna do,
Them communists they wus comin around,
They wus in the air,
They wus on the ground.
They wouldnt gimme no peace. . .
So I run down most hurriedly
And joined up with the john birch society,
I got me a secret membership card
And started off a-walkin down the road.
Yee-hoo, Im a real john bircher now!
Look out you commies!
Now we all agree with hitlers views,
Although he killed six million jews.
It dont matter too much that he was a fascist,
At least you cant say he was a communist!
Thats to say like if you got a cold you take a shot of malaria.
Well, I wus lookin everywhere for them gol-darned reds.
I got up in the mornin n looked under my bed,
Looked in the sink, behind the door,
Looked in the glove compartment of my car.
Couldnt find em . . .
I wus lookin high an low for them reds everywhere,
I wus lookin in the sink an underneath the chair.
I looked way up my chimney hole,
I even looked deep inside my toilet bowl.
They got away . . .
Well, I wus sittin home alone an started to sweat,
Figured they wus in my t.v. set.
Peeked behind the picture frame,
Got a shock from my feet, hittin right up in the brain.
Them reds caused it!
I know they did . . . them hard-core ones.
Well, I quit my job so I could work alone,
Then I changed my name to sherlock holmes.
Followed some clues from my detective bag
And discovered they wus red stripes on the american flag!
That ol betty ross . . .
Well, I investigated all the books in the library,
Ninety percent of em gotta be burned away.
I investigated all the people that I knowed,
Ninety-eight percent of them gotta go.
The other two percent are fellow birchers . . . just like me.
Now eisenhower, hes a russian spy,
Lincoln, jefferson and that roosevelt guy.
To my knowledge theres just one man
Thats really a true american: george lincoln rockwell.
I know for a fact he hates commies cus he picketed the movie exodus.
Well, I finly started thinkin straight
When I run outa things to investigate.
Couldnt imagine doin anything else,
So now Im sittin home investigatin myself!
Hope I dont find out anything . . . hmm, great god!
song performed by by Bob Dylan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It was also during my tenure of office that the Japanese Government agreed to the conclusion of a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and signed it, pursuing a policy in harmony with the avowed desire of the people.
quote by Eisaku Sato
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Leader That Was Pushed
Once on a time a general whose name is handed down
To the present generation as a name of high renown
Once on a time this general - I trust you understand
This happened years and years ago, and in a foreign land.
This general once stood before his army, thinking hard;
And he talked about advancing, but he didn't move a yard,
For, to put the matter plainly, though he knew his cause was right,
And desired to be the leader, yet he didn't want to fight.
He bravely talked for hours and hours of tactics and defence
(In good sooth, he was a leader of undoubted eloquence)
Till his soldiers grew impatient, for they spied afar the foe,
So they started marching forward, and the leader had to go,
Though he begged for time to elocute, they forced him to a walk;
Then they broke into a double, and he hadn't breath to talk.
If his soldiers start to push him - well, that can a leader do?
Thus he led his army forward - of necessity, 'tis true.
Oh, they forced him to a run,
And the firing of a gun
Gave him qualms about the business, but he couldn't change his mind.
He'd have dearly loved to pause
And orate about The Cause,
But he had to keep responding to the pressure from behind.
Then he yelled a battle-cry,
And he waved his sword on high,
But he mournfully reflected as he viewed the foemen's horde:
Leadership may be all right
While the foe is out of sight,
But, like the pen, the silver tongue is safer than the sword.
The fight was won. That general, his heart swelled up with pride,
Delivered speeches eloquent to his victorious side;
And the peroration hinted they should rest while they'd the chance;
But the army wanted more of it and urged him to advance.
'Twas here the general resigned to join another band
That didn't yearn to go and fight the battles of the land.
'Twas a calm, reposeful army, and that leader suited well;
For it let him talk of fighting while it sat and took a spell.
He was leader of the tired,
And he never was required
To go ranging o'er the country to attack a savage foe;
And whene'er he thought it best
To sit down and take a rest,
Well - it's rude to push a leader when he doesn't want to go.
And, if by some mischance,
He should mention an advance,
They would let him talk about it and applaud him very hard;
They would hail him as the man
Who by right was in the van;
But they'd grab him by the coat-tails if he sought to move a yard.
Give attention now, my masters, to this general's career;
He was affable and eloquent, but let me mention here
This happened very long since - twenty thousand years or so;
For now, we know, a leader leads before he's forced to go.
But if, perchance, at any time, a leader you should find
Who objects to moving onward till he gets a push behind,
Far better shift him from the front; his place is never here;
And let him join the other crowd - the Army of the Rear.
Let us have a moving army, let its leader be a man
Who doesn't need a shove behind to keep him in the van;
And if he halts to elocute, let's shift him off the track,
And put him 'mid the baggage-carts and lumber at the back.
There to seek a reputation with the busted and the bushed:
For no man may seek for Honor who insists on being pushed.
And he who seeks to lead must keep ahead a yard or so,
For - it's rude to push a leader when he doesn't want to go.
For a leader of the kind
Who requires a kick behind
Isn't any sort of leader, when you come to think of it;
And the generals we need
Are the fellows who CAN lead
The men who know the track to go, and tackle it with grit.
Wherefore, when you hear the talk
Of these fellows who would baulk,
While they flood the land with eloquence till mentally you're bushed.
Just remember, words and air
Seldom lead to anywhere,
And reflect upon the story of the leader that was pushed
poem by Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Broremann’s War
Spring,1945, German troops in his town were walking about not
carrying arms, they spoke to the locals in a friendly manner.
Looking back it was peace before the peace. Near Broremann's home
there was a tall house occupied by old non- commissioned officers,
middle-aged men in their thirties with children, gave the kids
chocolate and sweets (after the war the building was taken over by
Mormons) .
British troops arrived, put a canteen in a disused fish factory,
the German troops had surrendered. Broremann got white bread
with spam from the British. The Germans left by train; many
of the town´s people came to wave goodbye, there was no
dislike against the common soldiers, wrath was directed at the
local Gestapo who had betrayed their country by being crueler
than the enemy and by sporting rimless Himmler glasses.
Years later Broremann met a docker in Hamburg who had spent
five war years in his town. They drank together and declared
it had been a peaceful war.
poem by Oskar Hansen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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