Anecdote of a coin
I placed a coin
upon a railway track
while training at Klipdrift army camp
to go to war.
The coin was flattened
and stretched two centimetres long
and pressed upon
the image of the track.
More trains passed day and night
and the coin remained
as part of that rail.
It never would transform back
to a round and shiny thing
and have the capacity
to buy anything.
I was transformed from boy
to man and matured
before the end of spring.
I became a killing machine
and lost humanity
and learnt to stay alive
while passing through
ash holes and obstacles
with live bullets whistling past.
The battle raged in Namibia
and into Angola
where I was taken
to the gates of hell
The sentence lasted a full two years
and much longer still,
as after the initial stint
and while being a civilian
every year the call up papers
for another camp
of a month to four
kept coming in.
Flown from Waterkloof Air force base
to Youngsfield in the Cape,
transported to base,
issued and barbered and indoctrinated
and sent by rail to De Brug,
armed and motorized with armour
and send by road to Luthatla
to be trained in
and then to war
and if alive
back home again
was like a endless cycle.
How could I come back from war
and killing
and shell-shocked and a little mad
be human
and live a life again.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Gwine to Run All Night, or De Camptown Races
1 De Camptown ladies sing dis song -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
2 [Solo] De Camp-town race-track five miles long -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah day!
3 [Solo] I come down dah wid my hat caved in -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
4 I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah day!
5 Gwine to run all night!
6 Gwine to run all day!
7 I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag --
8 Somebody bet on de bay.
9 [Solo] De long tail filly and de big black hoss -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
10 [Solo] Dey fly de track and dey both cut across -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
11 [Solo] De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
12 [Solo] Can't touch bottom wid a ten foot pole -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
13 Gwine to run all night!
14 Gwine to run all day!
15 I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag --
16 Somebody bet on de bay.
17 [Solo] Old muley cow come on to de track -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
18 [Solo] De bob-tail fling her ober his back -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
19 [Solo] Den fly along like a rail-road car -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
20 [Solo] Runnin' a race wid a shootin' star -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
21 Gwine to run all night!
22 Gwine to run all day!
23 I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag --
24 Somebody bet on de bay.
25 See dem flyin' on a ten mile heat -- [Chorus] Doo-dah doo-dah!
26 Round de race track, den repeat -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
27 I win my money on de bob-tail nag -- [Chorus] Doo-dah! doo-dah!
28 I keep my money in an old tow-bag -- [Chorus] Oh! doo-dah-day!
29 Gwine to run all night!
30 Gwine to run all day!
31 I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag --
32 Somebody bet on de bay.
poem by Stephen C. Foster
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Don't Look Back
I was born to travel down blue highways
I never seem to learn much from my past
I don't make excuses for my mistakes
I take each day and I live it
Like it was my last
I don't look back
One foot in front of the other
On this one way track I don't look back
I live my life my way
I don't look back
I'm sure there's memories I've missed out on
There's been a couple of loves I've left behind
I haven't found a heart hat I can count on
But don't feel sorry for me
I ain't the lonesome kind
I don't look back
One foot in front of the other
On this one way track
I don't look back
I live my life my way
I don't look back
No I don't look back
I don't look back
One foot in front of the other
On this one way track
I don't look back
I live my life my way
I don't look back
I live my life my way
I don't look back
No I don't look back
No, no I don't look back
I don't look back
song performed by by Gary Allan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Camptown Races
De Camptown ladies sing dis song -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De Camptown racetrack five miles long -- Oh! doo-dah day!
I come down dah wid my hat caved in -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home wid a pocket full of tin -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Chorus
Gwine to run all night! Gwine to run all day!
I'll bet my money on de bob-tail nag -- Somebody bet on de bay!
De long tail filly and de big black hoss -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Dey fly de track and dey both cut across -- Oh! doo-dah day!
De blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can't touch bottom wid a ten foot pole -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Chorus
Old muley cow come on to de track -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
De bob-tail fling her ober his back -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Den fly along like a rail-road car -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin' a race with a shootin' star -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Chorus
Seen dem flyin' on a ten mile heat -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Round de race track, den repeat -- Oh! doo-dah day!
I win my money on de bob-tail nag -- Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag -- Oh! doo-dah day!
Chorus
poem by Stephen C. Foster
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Killing Machine
Killing machine,
They make you mean,
They make you strong and angry.
Killing machine,
They make you fight,
For valour and for glory.
Killing machine,
They send you to war,
Leaving your wife and family.
Killing machine,
You are but a man,
Trained and in the Army.
Soldier man,
Your not a machine,
But the keeper of my freedom.
Freedom Soldier,
I pray for you,
God keep you safe from harm.
poem by Claire Abbott
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Coin And A Boy
THE COIN AND A BOY
WHY DO YOU LOOK SO UNHAPPY SONNY? A MAN ASKED A YOUNG LAD WHO HE MET ON THE WAY TO HIS STALL! AND THE BOY REPLIED THUS, SAYING, I LOST MY COIN, AND AS I CRIED, A MAN GAVE ME ANOTHER COIN! HE STATED, AND THE INQUISITIVE MAN ASKED AGAIN, IF THAT BE SO, THEN WHY DO YOU LOOK SO UNHAPPY STILL? AND THE BOY REPLIED, OH, NOW THAT I HAVE THIS COIN, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN TWO COINS WITH ME INSTEAD OF ONE, IF I HADNT LOST MY COIN! HE STATED
poem by Overlord Don Manuel Ihcakeyno
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Rail
Long hard days, long cold nights
I work on the rail driving rail road spikes
I work all day from dusk til dawn
We don't take a break til the beans are done
The boss man says, Pick up those spikes
Lay out those rails make them fit just right
Pick up the hammer and drive it in
What I'm paying you boys, I ain't your friend
They pay me boys to tell you what to do
There's another thousand rails to lay, we ain't through
I work all day and I bust my back
I make my money on a rail road track
I work long days and long cold nights
Lay out that rail and lay it right
Pick up a hammer and I drive it in
Then reach for another and do it all again
I'm working on a rail road
Taking care of my own
Carrying my own load
I'm working on a rail road.
poem by Bill Simmons
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Orchard Road
Writers: leo sayer & alan tarney
To tell the truth its really such a sad affair
Standing here waiting in the cold night air
But Ive got to make this call
cause my heart is breaking.
I hear the bips drop a coin in the slot
Has it been that long
I thought youd forgotten me
Well I know that its getting late
But I just couldnt wait
Will I have the nerve to say
I just wanna come back
You shouldnt just go away
I just wanna come back
Ive been struck by such a bad luck
I need a place a little happiness and some love
I think I can see it now
Now let me paint the picture
Its twelve oclock and the curtains are drawn
Theyre counting sheep down in orchard road
Youre hanging on the telephone line tonight
And I wish I could be in orchard road
Not much been happening here
I think Ive got a job
Theyre gonna call me next week
And Ill be working out of town
But it sure beats hanging around
Whats that? tomorrow at two
Youre kidding me -- no
Is it allright with you
I dont know what to say
Itll be like a holiday
When you say youre all alone
Makes me wanna come back
And this house is not a home
I just gotta go back
Its twelve ten when I put down the phone
The moons shining down on orchard road
And Im feeling like a schoolboy again and tonight
Ill see you in my dreams of orchard road
Its funny but I thought Id never go back
I think sometimes I might loose track
But I remember you and the things we do
And I want it back.
In orchard road youve got my heart
I left it in your doorway
In orchard road a welcome back
Is waiting there just for me
In orchard road the sun will shine
Again I know I know
In orchard road you keep my love
Just waiting there for me
Its eight oclock and the dawns arrived
In orchard road its breakfast time
I climb in my car and I turn the key and Im gone
I am coming home
To orchard road
Im coming home
song performed by by Leo Sayer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
My friend you talk about my people and me
My friend you talk
about my people and me
being equal
to Hitler and the Germans
of the Second World War,
but do not know
that I and most of us Afrikaners
treated black people
like human beings,
never lifted a hand
against one,
that I knew from being
a toddler that they were
Christians as well
when my mother
gave the money that was left
from my father’s funeral fund
for a church to be constructed
in their own community.
How I saw the effect
of the Church Street bomb
killing innocent civilians
on the street
men, women and children
from any race.
How I was forced
to go to the army
and to war
and patriotic did my duty there
to stop communists killing,
raping and robbing the future
like they did in East Germany,
Hungary in sixty-eight
and with the Portuguese
still living in Mozambique
and in Angola
when that countries
got their independence.
How in Soweto with the army
I had to stop black people
killing black people,
burning their fellow man alive
while their women were
cheering them on
and I saw man more being animals
than human beings
without having any mercy
for each other
having lost all conscience
for their cruel deeds.
You do not know
that I will not quarter
for a country
full of pirates
and not the Orlando
soccer playing type
but people who rob,
kill, maim and rape
that there’s no other escape
for Afrikaner people like me
and nowhere else to go
that I love this land
maybe more than
my forefathers did
who sacrificed
their lives for it
that my great grandfather Japie Strydom
lost his farm in the Cape colony
when as a Cape rebel
he joined the war
against the British,
was almost executed
when the war ended
was imprisoned on St. Helena,
that his wife
died in a British concentration camp
where she was fed finely grinded glass
in the flour given to her
that I want to get rid
of oppression against me
and my fellow Afrikaners
and want to have a life
like any one else.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Back On The Track
Bad reputation, seems to be my style
I've been categorized as a little wild
The police took my photograph
A hunted boy runnin' from his past
Some even called me the devil's child
At seventeen, I was on my own
Had the clothes on my back, from a broken home
Slapped in the face 'til my daddy got straight
I knew it was time to run
(Chorus)
Now I'm back, back on the track again
I'm back, I'm holdin' my own, I'm leadin' the pack
I'm back, from a shattered home and a living hell
I'm back, back on the track
First indication, of trouble's up ahead
I saw the flashing blues, I saw the color red
A big commotion at the friendly store
Found a poor man robbed and a kid at the door
"Guilty as charged", or so the judge said
I was sent to school to try to learn a trade
But when the schoolboys laughed I became enraged
I prayed to god that's the last mistake I'd made
(Chorus)
Bad reputation freedom's my desire
I tried to clear my name, I came under fire
A bad situation was a way of life
With a cutthoat laywer given bad advice
The only hope I had was a proven liar
It was win or lose, out to clean the slate
It was some big news when I made the break
And I ran for years to avoid the state
Another chance I was forced to take
Now I'm back, back on the track again
I'm back, I'm holdin' my own, I'm leadin' the pack
I'm back, from a shattered home and a living hell
I'm back, back on the track again
I'm back, back on the track again
I'm back, I'm back on the track again
song performed by by 38 Special
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Act of God?
A coin when dropped will
In one second, fall sixteen feet
In two, sixty four
In three, one hundred and forty four.
They were driving back from Sydney
Mum and Dad and their two kids
The freeway was a nightmare
So they took the old road that they did.
The old road’s quite an old road
Been there for many years
The rain was slanting sideways
Being late home was their fear.
It was night and many lights were out
The road was dark and quite awash
Water running everywhere
The kids shrieked with every splash.
A short drive now back to the warmth
Of the house in which they lived
A short drive back now to that home
Where they brought up both their kids.
Just two and three I think they were
A precious time of life
The kids strapped in the back seat
In the front was man and wife.
A dip there in the road appeared
Just where there is a creek
But we’ll be home soon they both said
Both kids were now asleep.
‘Slow down now, that’s deep water’
Said the man unto his wife
Those were the very final words
He would utter in his life.
One hundred feet, one hundred feet
One hundred feet or more
Was the depth of that great puddle
Into which the rain had poured.
It was at a place called Somersby
When the rain had drained away
That they winched up that death carriage
On the following grey day.
Yes, the chasm it was very deep
A Grand Canyon not a puddle
So for everyone upon that road
And every time you loved ones cuddle
Just think of those four driving home
And think of their full fright
And hold each other closely
Each and every single night
We should live for every minute
We should relish every hour
For simple stupid circumstance
Can destroy life’s fragile flower.
A coin when dropped will
In one second fall sixteen feet
In two, sixty four
In three, one hundred and forty four.
It was that deep.
I met the family's best friend in a local pub yesterday. He had just got back from identifying the bodies.
poem by David Keig
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Who is a beggar and who is not
Take your coin, I am no beggar
In our country
Beggars are less uncommon
They are there anywhere
Except
Cemeteries
Burial ground and
Cremation yard
They beg you so pathetically
That you are forced to dropp a coin
Pavements invariably
Irrespective of the city
House beggars
You can make out them
By the way they look
Women beg
Pointing to us the little child
They carry on their waist
Old ladies too beg
And they station themselves
Against you in your path
Making it difficult for you
To step ahead further
While you are on a wait
Either bus stop
Rail station
Park or beach
Some one or the other appear before you
Begging
Truly speaking
It hurts me to turn away someone
Asking for alms
Without getting them something
Some hold the view
That they need not help beggars
As they are not the one
Who made beggars beg
Begging should be discouraged
And to do that
Beggars should not be helped
Is some others’ view point
I am not quite sure
Whether to help beggars or not
I normally dropp a coin of least denomination
In the begging bowl or in the opened up palms of a beggar
Provided I have the coin
If I do not have a coin to part with
Or if I do not have the mind to help
I muster the strength
To tell the beggar
That I have no changes to spare
This morning
I was rushing to the office
After getting down from the bus
I saw a middle aged male
Who was rolling down on the tar topped road
Sitting on roller-fixed wooden plank
Pushing with the help of has hands
It appeared he had no legs
I decided to help him with a coin
As I got nearer
I came to understand that he was polio affected
Both his legs becoming non functional
Of late, thin and feeble
I ran my hand through my left pant pocket
Got hold of a coin of a better denomination
Than the one I normally prefer to drop
Stood by his side
As he was enjoying a puff of a lighted cigarette
On his lips
He did not lift his face
Having waited for some seconds
I decided to dropp that coin
I did the same
And started going towards office
I heard the rolling of wheels
When I looked back
The person on the wheel-fixed plank
Pointed his right index finger
Towards the dropped coin
About four metres on the backside
And said curtly
Take your coin
I am no beggar
As I reached the spot
And picked up the coin
I felt too small of me
And in fact, beg for the knowledge
As to know
Who is a beggar and who is not
poem by Bashyam Narayanan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Just another flight
At the wind blown, dusty
and cold De Brug that is full of tents
we get into lorries
and at Bloemspruit air force base
near to Bloemfontein
airborne soldiers armed and equipped
at sixteen hundred hours
get onto aircraft
and the Hercules is hardly in the air
(like it is with soldiers
most start sleeping)
as if this thirteen hundred kilometres
is just another flight
to Grootfontein air force base
and I see the sun setting
stars moving past in the sky
and the big yellow moon
while we cross the airspace
of Botswana
and the coming action
is already gnawing at me.
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Killing Time
(originally recorded by sweet savage)
Sound of gunfire comes through the night
Killing and hatred, its a terrible sight
Reports come in of the heavy attack
Message is seen, were moving back
Preparations are made for the journey back
Its a survival, supplies are packed
No more nights in this eternal hell
Destination is simple, we move out
Killing time - you left from the line
Killing time - your turn to kill
Killing time - what do you say?
Killing time - aha, killing time
And he knew what he needed to keep us alive
No time for cowardice, kill and survive
Like a killer kid with a switchblade knife
Nasty word, hell take your life
The silence is over, they attack again
Killing and hatred drive me insane
Reports come in of a heavy attack
Message is seen, were moving back
Killing time - you left from the line
Killing time - your turn to kill
Killing time - what do you say?
Killing time - aha, killing time
Sound of gunfire comes through the night
Killing and hatred, its a terrible sight
Reports come in of a heavy attack
Message is seen, were moving back
And he knew what he needed to keep us alive
No time for cowardice, kill and survive
Like a killer kid with a switchblade knife
Nasty word, hell take your life
Killing time - you left from the line
Killing time - your turn to kill
Killing time - what do you say?
Killing time - aha, killing time
song performed by by Metallica
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Down In The Track
Tom johnston
I been workin the whole day long
On these railroad ties singin a sad, sad song
Down the track is a bad way to live
The boss mans whip is all hes got to give
And late at night in the twilight of the south
They put you in a cell and let the bulldogs out
The old cat down the way
Well hes singin out the blues
cause hes got no one back home
Oh, somebody sighed
Next day comes they send you back out on the track
All that sweat be drippin down off your back
Everybodys singin a workin mans song
Hopin they dont have to feel the whip on their bone
The water boy slowly works his way around
A bucket full of swamp water weighin him down
Old squezer walker just fell out on the ground
And theyre draggin his body away
Oh, my, my, my
Well, theres talk around camp
That theres gonna be a fight
Old razor face and willie black
The meanest dudes in sight
Ones got a razor and the others got a knife
But only ones gonna walk out alive
Oh, baby, mama, get me out of here
Cant stand no more
This place is gonna be the death of me
Believe to my soul that I gotta be free
Theres only one way that its every gonna be
Thats when the angels come and take me away
Well, now
Oh, baby, mama, get me out of here
Cant stand no more
This place is gonna be the death of me
Believe to my soul that I gotta be free
Theres only one way that its every gonna be
Thats when the angels come and take me away
Well, now
song performed by by Doobie Brothers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Magic Well
Magic well, Magic well, Magic well
Curiouslly u walk toward me with a coin dangling in thy hand
cast a coin upon me and make a wish for a coin gives birth to a dream of wish
look upon me with thy reflection on my face and cast your coin and let out your wish for u never know when it come 2 pass
cast a coin and make a wish for i'll grant it to u...
poem by Paul World
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Something of innocence was lost
I knew Shell-shocked troops,
who were battle hardened
and who struggled between
the sense and senselessness of killing.
Something of innocence was lost
and some brutal thing was gained
and the fatality of life remained
poem by Gert Strydom
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
We all laughed. It was more like that whole thing that I was talking about earlier. You go to training camp and after the season is over, you might not see the guys for six months until you go back to training camp.
quote by Bubba Smith
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Its A Matter Of Time
(words & music by clive westlake)
Its a matter of time before I go back there
A matter of time before I go home
I have been way from her now for a long time
And Ive lived a life I thought that it should be
Its a long, long way from now to maybe sometime
And the waiting round is really killing me
Its a matter of time before I go back there
A matter of time oh lord, before I go home
Its a long way I know and the goin aint easy
Shell see me again its a matter of time
I think Ill take a train right early in the morning
Just to see how far I get along the way
But the trains dont run too often only sometimes
So I guess Id better wait another day
Its a matter of time before I go back there
A matter of time before I go home
Its a long way I know and the goin aint easy
Shell see me again, its just a matter of time
Shell see me I know its a matter of time
song performed by by Elvis Presley
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Genocide
When they try to tell you knowledge is a dangerous thing
"it's such a dangerous thing"
The people that have it are the people that sin
And the people that need it are the people that can never win
"they can never win"
Let me get you out of here little broken wing
There are people round here that are right
There are people round here that like to sleep at night
There are people round here that go slow
There are people round here that don't kindly to the killing of the buffalo
When they tear up all the treaties and break up all the plans
"they break up all the plans"
Did you do your duty and kill on command?
Did you know the redman used to roam this land?
"he used to roam this land"
Now the souls of lost warriors blow across the sands
People round here they get it right
People round here we like to sleep at night
There are people round here that go slow
People round here that don't take kindly to the killing of the buffalo, oh no
So listen to my story and listen to it well
"you better listen well"
Listen to the glory of the gory details of the tale i tell
Did you know the redman very well?
"i used to know him well"
Did you know the hunting ground before it became a hell?
There are people round here that are right
There are people round here that like to sleep at night
There are people round here i don't know
There are people round here that don't take kindly to the killing of the buffalo
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing
The killing of the
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing
The killing
So listen to my story of genocide
How they were hunted and slaughtered till there was no place left to hide
Did you know the redman used to hold his head with pride?
Till every man, woman and child were destroyed
There are people round here that get it right
There are people round here that couldn't sleep at night
There are people round here i don't know
There are people round here that don't take kindly to the killing of the buffalo
There are people round here that understand
There are people round here that couldn't give a damn
There are people round here that go slow
There are people round here that don't take too kindly to the killing of the buffalo
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing
The killing of the
They're killing all the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing
They're killing all the
They're killing all the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing of the buffala-o
The killing
The killing
The killing of the buffala-o
(repeat at random)
song performed by by Thin Lizzy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Dont Be Part Of It
Save
Save
Save from the butchers knife
Save from the experiments
Chorus
Dont be part of it
Dont be part of the killing
Dont be part of it
Dont be part of the killing
Save from the furriers track
Save from extinction
Share a right to life
As long as there are slaughter houses
There will be battle fields
As long as animals die in testing
We wont find humanity
Save
Save from the factory farms
Save from the cruelty
As long as there are slaughter houses
There will be battle fields
As long as animals die in testing
We wont find humanity
Save
Dont be part of it
Save
Dont be part of the killing
Save
song performed by by Howard Jones
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!