The Trench
It was once assumed
We stood at the same spot
By and by
The earth caved in
Surreptitiously
And there emerged
A widening trench
We now stand
A trench apart
The trench patiently gathers
All the emotions slipped into it
In the nights it sings
To wake me up
The open space echoes
With the ballads sung
To bring a smile or two
On my damp cheeks…
Wipes away my cheek
As it goes on singing
All that it gathers
From the passers-by
I smile
But somehow
There’s some difference!
poem by Indira Babbellapati
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Related quotes
These Men
Men moving in a trench, in the clear noon,
Whetting their steel within the crumbling earth;
Men, moving in a trench ‘neath a new moon
That smiles with a slit mouth and has no mirth;
Men moving in a trench in the grey morn,
Lifting bodies on their clotted frames:
Men with narrow mouths thin-carved in scorn
That twist and fumble strangely at dead names.
These men know life – know death a little more.
These men see paths and ends, and see
Beyond some swinging open door
Into eternity.
poem by Leon Gellert
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The Escapade
In our lovely city of Chennai,
A big trench was deeply dug, nigh
To the neat pedestrian platform,
For laying pipes of forms and so on.
There came a corpulent buffalo,
And on the muddy trench low,
Espied its calf struggling in woe;
With celerity, it sprang down to tow.
The passers-by, saw the two-some,
Bracketed in the trench—so awesome—
Some passed by, speaking with pity;
The playful brats in glee, sang a ditty.
Some passed by engrossed in their own care,
Some flew past with no time to spare for the pair;
Something must be done to retrieve—some thought—
‘ Nothing by us could be done'—so some fought.
Some youth got down to the trench,
And got badly hurt in the wrench,
Ah! They lifted the calf with gay success,
But the big buffalo they couldn't harness.!
Meanwhile there formed a crowd around,
And some pronounced 'Let's the police sound.'
The police force spurned with disdain,
'To extricate a buffalo is not in our domain.'
Some inclined the ‘Blue Cross' to call,
And some ushered in the Fire Engine to haul,
Each according to their own fine thought,
Acted to bring the struggling buffalo caught.
The ‘Blue Cross' van hastened to the spot,
The men tossed strong ropes looped in a knot;
The animal ran hither and thither in fear,
They couldn't capture it though sincere.
From a far away place landed the fire-engine,
Even their efforts couldn't the buffalo pin!
Next day to arrive with improved elements,
The exhausted men left with wry laments.
Then the twilight gave place to dark night,
And the crowd dispersed from the location right.
The poor calf borne to the platform stood lonely,
And the buffalo was inside the trench standing impatiently.
Now the buffalo with maternal love was alone,
It's eyes with brightness, sparkling shone,
It saw it's calf, waiting with filial love anxiously,
And in a jiffy, the buffalo jumped up triumphantly!
poem by Chandra Thiagarajan
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0272 Somme Day
Looks like being a fine day; how red
the poppies in the sunlight.
The whistles blow.
From the now almost home of the slit trench
Over the Top, boys! This is it!
Soon back. The slit trench
is blessedly quieter now
in its six feet.
poem by Michael Shepherd
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She
she is an ocean of pain
but her lips are laid with smile
she is a deep trench of dark stain
to which not everyone can descent
she is a broken wing of a bird in vain
that gives her courage to hope and fly
she is a cloud that take ages to rain
but after reaching there one dies
she is a story of grief and pain
which makes everyone smile
maybe the smile forbidden for her to gain
is what she gives to others
poem by Gule Rukhsar
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Ha Ha Ha Happy Family
See see Papa Trench Bottom
dig in the mines happily, laugh ha ha happily
and drink at night and hear him
snore before the day
happy happy Papa Trench Bottom
he he he he he ha ha happy happy
at home and at work
See see Mama Big Bottom
she she she he he ha ha happy
Dance happily Cook with joy
toss with levity
and puts dishes aplenty on the table
for all in the family to eat and be merry
See see Teenage Tough Dude
he he he happily walks in the streets
Cool at school
Very Pop with the babes
and eating lots at home, with gravity
very serious in look, sparse in his words
but loves his mom, dad and sis
deep deep within, ha ha happily happily
Happy Happy Teenage Cool Dude
And see Sister Barbie Doll Pretty
Curls and dimples and cute smiles all
Happy hours in the ha ha bathroom
many more hours texting and chatting
and lots and lots of FaceTime
Happy happy walking sexy
all the way to work
and chirping all day like a Paradise Bird
at work at the Rainbow Fast Food Outlet
happy happy talking talking all workday
Ah See Happy happy he he he
she she she happy happy Family
Trench Bottom family he he he
and she she she all day and night
Happy happy Trench Bottoms
Happy happy he he ha ha Happy Family always
poem by Raj Arumugam
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Trench charge
Firing from his hip he was running,
with the light machinegun kicking
dressed in a brown army uniform
running towards a trench
while bullets whistled, swished past him
with some kicking up dust around him
and like a machine functioning
at perfect speed and timing
he lobbed a grenade
somewhat like a cricket ball
but with a deadly sting
into the trench
before dropping behind a small stone wall
waiting for the explosive cracking sound
giving instructions with hand signs
to the troops that followed him
and when it came
he let of a few bursts
with the light machinegun
on its folded out stand
before half-terrified, filled with adrenaline
he started running again
with his troops following him,
shooting from the hip
and at the enemy trench
jumps straight in
spraying soldiers dressed in olive green
with flaming hot bullets,
smelling the fumes of cordite,
mixed with sand and death
with every breath burning
in his chest and throat
without time to really think,
just to comprehend
and to react, noting dust flying
from the wall next to his head
were passing enemy bullets were slamming.
poem by Gert Strydom
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You Smile!
When I Smile
It is like a bright day to come
When you smile
It is a joy to my heart to see you in such happiness
In other words Smiling reflects throughout my whole life
Smiles i say to you
Shows a very high self-esteem of someone
it expresses your emotions
Through one perfect simple smile
A smile can make a difference
Also it can shine a light in a person`s life
Your the beautiful smile
When im sad you make me smile
Everytime im down you lift me up
Your smile turn my frown upside down
With just one smile
it can make a big difference
ESPECIALLY TO ME!
You Smile...
poem by Sophanie Occean
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Illusions
As a mist gathers
on the ocean
the sun warms
you blush.!
a tide sweeps in
hitting the shore
your face in the
waves
you smile.!
the sun brightly
shines
in the heat
you melt.!
A breeze grabs a
leaf
whirls it away
you fly.!
a violent storm
gathers in the
clouds
you float away.
poem by Heather Burns
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Wide Open Space
I wonder if after all this time
You think of me.
Do you ever miss my company?
You never could doubt about
The way that I feel.
Tell me: dyou feel it too?
Its funny how after all this time
Youre all I see.
I wonder if you still keep your key.
And now that youre gone
Theres nothing left for me here,
Just a wide open space.
And I cant forget that smile on your face.
Theres a wide open space,
And noone else can stand in your place.
Theres a wide open space here in my heart.
Its funny how all at once
The world can turn around,
Taking you up to bring you down.
And suddenly life has passed me by
And Im left with a wide open space.
You know I cant forget that smile...
... wide open space here in my heart.
I couldnt believe it when I thought
I heard you say
Youd never be coming back this way.
And since youve been gone
Theres been no love for my heart,
No, not a trace.
And I cant forget that smile...
... wide open space here in my heart.
song performed by by Cliff Richard
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Life And Feeling
like a soldier im in war
my enamy is life and feeling
the hole i dug next to my trench
is where i shall lye my feelings
and lye myself in the end of the battle
i took shots at life and feeling
my whole exsistance
the battle i am loseing
crouched in my trench
as rain, tears and pain are falling
heavily drenching me
my scars lay up my arms
showing where my blades have slit
life and feelin take another effective shot at me
hitting me in the hearts
i am bleeding bad but i wont give up the war
till the enamys are difeated
the wounds are bleeding as so much pain fills me up inside
i am fearless of the battle and fait i may suffer i am alone
with only myself fighting with all my might
i hate to tell myself i am loseing
but i dont know if i can win im dying to quick
poem by Sandy Vanity
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To beg of the miser is to dig a trench in the sea.
Before the storming of the Casinga trenches
The past was going in seconds
while I was being sheltered
behind a small wall, with bullets,
mortars and rockets
whining and exploding, dark was everything,
dark was all
with death spreading its tentacles,
gripping mostly the enemy
bringing them to a fall
but for those barely out of range,
covered by trenches
the change from living to dead
were only minutes away
but the present was catching up with them,
with sniper bullets, mortars homing in
and hand grenades arcing dead on target
and the enemy trench lying straight ahead
to win the battle, the only way to tread
and the future of living or dying
was drawing down on the intersection
of the order: to take the trench.
[Reference: Full Moon At Tierz: Before The Storming Of Huesca by John Cornford.]
poem by Gert Strydom
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Come, let us make love deathless, thou and I.
quote by Herbert Trench
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A trench is a half-finished tomb.
aphorism by Hasier Agirre, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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I decided to go out tonight. I can’t stay in the trench all day long.
aphorism by Ninus Nestorovic, translated by Dijana Zdravkovic
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Stand-To: Good Friday Morning
I’d been on duty from two till four.
I went and stared at the dug-out door.
Down in the frowst I heard them snore.
‘Stand to!’ Somebody grunted and swore.
Dawn was misty; the skies were still;
Larks were singing, discordant, shrill;
They seemed happy; but I felt ill.
Deep in water I splashed my way
Up the trench to our bogged front line.
Rain had fallen the whole damned night.
O Jesus, send me a wound to-day,
And I’ll believe in Your bread and wine,
And get my bloody old sins washed white!
poem by Siegfried Sassoon
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It has been mentioned that in Trench I there is evidence of three successive stages of these defences.
quote by Kathleen Kenyon
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ballad of Army Pay
In general, if you want a man to do a dangerous
job : —
Say, swim the Channel, climb St. Paul's, or break
into and rob
The Bank of England, why, you find his wages
must be higher
Than if you merely wanted him to Fight the kitchen
fire.
But in the British Army, it's just the other
way.
And the maximum of danger means the minimum
of pay.
You put some men inside a trench, and call them
infantrie,
And make them face ten kinds of hell, and face it
cheerfully ;
And hve in holes Uke rats, with other rats, and
hce, and toads,
And in their leisure time, assist the R.E.'s with
their loads.
Then, when they've done it all, you give 'em each
a bob a day !
For the maximum of danger means the minimum
of pay.
40
We won't run down the A.S.C., nor yet the
R.T.O.
They ration and direct us on the way we've got
to go.
They're very useful people, and it's pretty plain
to see
We couldn't do without 'em, nor yet the
A.P.C.
But comparing risks and wages, — I think they all
will say
That the maximum of danger means the minimum
of pay.
There are men who make munitions — and seventy
bob a week ;
They never see a lousy trench nor hear a big shell
shriek ;
And others sing about the war at high-class music-
halls
Getting heaps and heaps of money and encores
from the stalls.
They ' keep the home fires burning ' and bright
by night and day.
While the maximum of danger means the minimum
of pay.
I wonder if it's harder to make big shells at a
bench,
Than to face the screaming beggars when they're
crumping up a trench ;
41
I wonder if it's harder to sing in mellow tones
Of danger, than to face it — say, in a wood like
Trone's ; *
Is discipline skilled labour, or something children
play ?
Should the maximum of danger mean the mini-
mum of pay ?
poem by Frederick William Harvey
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A minnow, trench and a widow
I found a guppy struggles to swim in that lack of water ditch
And I borrowed a bucket of water from the near by watering widow.
Then I poured the whole into the ditch.
Oh! The minnow swims happily I watched
And I too felt happy after a long time.
I returned the bucket and said; 'Thank you very much Madam.'
I sniffed and measured her roomy smile
Really it's deeper than the trench.
poem by Nimal Dunuhinga
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Smile … Dear Smile
Walk up to smile.
Fondle well to smile; Bring hearts from a mile.
Set heart to smile; Get muscle to smile.
Smile whispers one nest; A million senses to crest.
Smile to shine; bring out yawning spirits from whine.
Troubles' far gone with smile; Pains fade away with smile.
Give joy to heart with smile; Live for forever with smile.
Envy not to smile; Frown not to smile; for you have fond smile.
Win with smile; nothing lost to smile; Share contagious smile.
Winter, spring, summer or fall; be smile season to call.
All I want S.M.I.L.E.;
Sweet Memoir Initiated Little Expression