1936
All night they marched, the infantrymen under pack,
But the hands gripping the rifles were naked bone
And the hollow pits of the eyes stared, vacant and black,
When the moonlight shone.
The gas mask lay like a blot on the empty chest,
The slanting helmets were spattered with rust and mold,
But they burrowed the hill for the machine-gun nest
As they had of old.
And the guns rolled, and the tanks, but there was no sound,
Never the gasp or rustle of living men
Where the skeletons strung their wire on disputed ground ...
I knew them, then.
'It's eighteen years,' I cried. 'You must come no more.'
'We know your names. We know that you are the dead.
Must you march forever from France and the last, blind war?'
'Fool! From the next!'
they said.
poem by Stephen Vincent Benet
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The Old Prison
The rows of cells are unroofed,
a flute for the wind's mouth,
who comes with a breath of ice
from the blue caves of the south.
O dark and fierce day:
the wind like an angry bee
hunts for the black honey
in the pits of the hollow sea.
Waves of shadow wash
the empty shell bone-bare,
and like a bone it sings
a bitter song of air.
Who built and laboured here?
The wind and the sea say
-Their cold nest is broken
and they are blown away-
They did not breed nor love,
each in his cell alone
cried as the wind now cries
through this flute of stone.
poem by Judith Wright
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Check
The night was creeping on the ground;
She crept and did not make a sound
Until she reached the tree, and then
She covered it, and sole again
Along the grass beside the wall.
I heard the rustle of her shawl
As she threw blackness everywhere
Upon the sky and ground and air,
And in the room where I was hid:
But no matter what she did
To everything that was without,
She could not put my candle out.
So I stared at the night, and she
Stared back solemnly at me.
poem by James Stephens
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Check
The night was creeping on the ground;
She crept and did not make a sound
Until she reached the tree, and then
She covered it, and sole again
Along the grass beside the wall.
I heard the rustle of her shawl
As she threw blackness everywhere
Upon the sky and ground and air,
And in the room where I was hid:
But no matter what she did
To everything that was without,
She could not put my candle out.
So I stared at the night, and she
Stared back solemnly at me.
poem by James Brunton Stephens
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The Devil Dogs
Through grain fields with bayonets fixed,
from Belleau Woods the Germans came.
The sixth Marines in shallow pits
unleashed a deadly metal rain.
The French collapsed upon the left
Their flank exposed by craven fear
The Marines held fast when urged to flee:
'Retreat? , Hell we just got here.'
By June the sixth, it fell to them
to take a Hill to save the French.
A German company with machine guns
waited for them well entrenched.
With tactics from another war
Audacious yes, but not too clever
'Come on, you bastards' Dan Daly roared,
'Do you really want to live forever'
With casualties high, so many dead
The Marine Corps held the hill by night.
Counter attacks were fended off
some times with fists and K bar knife.
Now the cannon of both sides
rained steel where the combatants stood:
A once beautiful preserve of princes
was turned into a shattered wood.
Through mustard gas and cannon fire
The Marines advanced into the Wood.
Silenced machine guns and cut bared wire
Till the enemy fled, this time for good.
Before the flag at Iwo flew,
Before the Canal's jungle squalor
Marines were nicknamed 'Devil Dogs'
by the Germans who admired valor.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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The End
Writers: leo sayer & david courtney
He says he doesnt care
To the girl with the painted hair
And staggers through the angry crowd
Like it isnt there
Feels like a wall of sound
As he crashes down
No one stops to look when he hits the ground
Were the nouveau rich
On a one way trip
Living out on a razors edge
Just to get our kicks
Were gonna take a stand
Till the world is in our hands
And if we win or lose
We dont give a damn
Hollow people living empty lives
Looking vacant in the neon lights
Who needs the truth
When you can live a lie?
Cant stop now, its too late
cos were running blind
Till the end comes like a thunder
And we all fall under
No one gives a damn
Come on now, lets meet the end
He tries to make it home
Head like a block of stone
His eyes are so closed up now
His arm so full of dope
There is nowhere to run
He cries out but no one comes
In the back of some dark alley
He dies alone
Hollow people living empty lives
Hearts feel nothing in the neon lights
Feelings here are so cheap these days
They dont mean a thing
No one really cares
Whether we lose or if we win
Yeah -- were the angry youth
Dont wanna be like you
Yeah -- were the nouveau riche
Yeah -- we gotcha in our grip
Theres no escape for you
cos were running blind
Yeah, were the angry youth
Dont wanna be like you
Weve got your bridges crossed
We won -- you lost
Its the end
song performed by by Leo Sayer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Rain of March
The Fitful Showers of March
The rain of March, the rain of March
Came again
Came slanting down in full force
With pattering sound on the tin roof
Splashes of cold water wetted everything
The dry sand all around shone with a dazzle
The woodland paths softened with the tears
Of the blue sky.
For whom the sky wept?
The little leaves on the boughs
Quenched their thirst
Who washed all their heat and pain
The rain of March, the rain of March
Came again.
poem by Ratan Bhattacharjee
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Yet Another Movie
One sound, one single sound
One kiss, one single kiss
A face outside the window pane
However did it come to this?
A man who ran, a child who cried
A girl who heard, a voice that lied
The sun that burned a fiery red
The vision of an empty bed
The use of force, he was so tough
Shell soon submit, shes had enough
The march of fate, the broken will
Someone is lying very still
He has laughed and he has cried
He has fought and he has died
Hes just the same as all the rest
Hes not the worst, hes not the best
And still this ceaseless murmuring
The babbling that I brook
The seas of faces, eyes upraised
The empty screen, the vacant look
A man in black on a snow white horse,
A pointless life has run its course,
The red rimmed eyes, the tears still run
As he fades into the setting sun
M: youre going on that plane to take you where you belong.
W: but no, I have...
M: you have got to listen to me. do you have any idea what
You have to look forward to if you stay here? nine chances out of 10 we both end up in a concentration camp and that....
W: youre only saying these things to make me go.
M: Im saying it cause its true. inside us, we both know we belong in different......
....maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life.
W: but what about us?
But what about us?
But what about us?
song performed by by Pink Floyd
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Army
They wanted a man
made from steel
or titanium would have
suited much better,
unfortunately I am
of flesh and bone and blood
and have a heart for peace
and could not become
a mere killing machine.
We marched up
and down the hill
and up again
and for nobody it was a thrill
and drove across the border
and came back
and some were wounded,
crippled, blind and dead
and those alive
were much different
from who they were before.
I wanted them to leave me
in peace,
but they still
kept calling me
for another stint and some more
and there was no way out
and suddenly it all changed
and although we won
all the battles and the war
we lost it all
and lost much more
from ourselves
and the sacrifices
did not matter.
poem by Gert Strydom
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A New Day!
lay down your guns,
your knives, your flags.
get out of your tanks,
your planes, get off
of your carriers.
stop the bombs,
the rhetoric, the patriotic march....
unball your fists, open your hands.
proclaim this a new day....
the first day of forever...
when humanity decided
to become human again!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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Heart Of Stone
A broken wing, and a broken bone
Of a bird, that met a stone
Lied helpless And was bit despair
Looked above If god was there.
Short of food And short of breath
Was silently waiting For his death
Asked his wings If they could fly.
Yes they said why don't you try
He gathered his strength and wiped his tears.
And soon he stood Without his fears
His eyes stared at the Dark blue sky
But just then when he was about to fly
they grabbed his neck they grabbed it hard
with all his strength he could move a yard
and yes those hands did hurt his bone
he had met a heart of stone
some ugly hands and a beautiful bird.
He cried for help But no one heard.
His wings were flawed And his muscles were stiff.
He begged them to throw him off a cliff
oh dumb bird, don't you get,
look at you, it's a stone you met.
To this, the half dead bird replied
So what, if I die
Just for once I ll meet the air.
And also see if god was there.
Stories of wisdom, that were once told
But now this world had been so cold.
He wished if those blind eyes could see.
The bird was dead though his soul was free.
poem by Kanav Justa
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Simply, For You
why is it so hard to talk
to the one you love most...
when time and years and chapters,
testify in tired feet?
the wars have ended,
the guns are now still.
even the storm left,
a candle lit by the bed.
do i know you?
do you know me?
or are we the sound...
of doors opening and closing?
i cant say your name
without something in me dying...
i cant see the sky,
without seeing your face.
are we so old,
has time written our epitaph?
just old polaroids,
in an album boxed up....
i brush against you,
and wolves howl in the moonlight.
the soft look in your eyes,
tastes like rain.
you open your mouth,
and swallows fly...
have i set the nest on fire,
laying brick in the sun?
yet i am not dead,
and neither are you....
you smell like thunder,
i burn in the night!
poem by Eric Cockrell
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The Balltrap
(rod stewart)
Well my brother said he saw you in a downtown bar
With a price on your head and a black man on your arm
Cmon sister, I aint quite as dumb as I seem
Id rather see you dead with a rope round your neck
Or see you paralyzed in both your thighs
Cmon honey you got me crawling down on my knees
If you say its all over Ill pack up and go
But this time tomorrow youll be screamin on the phone
Come back baby and lets get naked tonight
Well I cant say yes and I cant say no
My heart wants to love you but my soul says go
Cmon sugar why dont you let your man off the hook
You got me in a balltrap
Lord Im eating outta your hands
You got me in a balltrap, hung up on a one-night stand
You got me in a balltrap, strung out on a midnight tram
First time I had you up on ol park lane
You didnt know my name even when I came
As I recall you let me walk home in the rain
You said Im cute but tell the truth
Its my body you want with the red hot juice
Cmon honey lets call the whole thing off
You got me in a balltrap
Lord, Im eating outta your hands
You got me in a balltrap, hung up on a one-night stand
You got me in a balltrap, strung out on a midnight tram
My mama dont like you and I aint surprised
You got poison lips, you got amphetamine eyes
She keeps on saying why dont you find a nice country girl
But ma I aint never been in love before
I cant sleep or eat all week
But friday night Ill be alright
On the midnight trampoline
Its a balltrap
Lord, Im eating outta your hands
You got me in a balltrap, hung up on a one-night stand
You got me in a balltrap, strung out on a midnight tram
song performed by by Rod Stewart
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Little Guns
Tiny people, with little guns
Little armies march, to little drums
What do they want?
What do they want?
Tiny soldiers, with little guns
Little tanks, no bigger than your thumb
They want you
Little people, with tiny brains
Little bullets flowing, in their veins
What do they want?
What do they want?
Tiny people with little guns
Little armies march, to little drums
They want you, you
You, you, you, you
Little airplanes, with tiny bombs
Little squadrons, dropping thimbles of napalm
They want you
What do they want?
What do they want?
Tiny people, with little guns
Little armies march, to little drums
You, you
You, you, you, you
Tiny people, little guns
Tiny people, little guns
Tiny people, little guns
song performed by by Oingo Boingo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Empty Hands
He rode in town on a white horse
With nothing in his hands
He came to gather his people
And take them to their promised land
When he came he knew there would be bloodshed
But still no violence made his plans
He came to fight in a battle
With no guns or money
But with his empty hands
With his empty hands
With his empty hands
With his empty hands
They said hey boy what you lookin'at
As they eyed his dreaded mane
He said my father has sent me
I've come back to reclaim
The children whose hearts
Were so whole and pure
Now it's you who'll die in pain
So they lynched the man
Who fooled the word
And all the children gathered
In his empty hands
In his empty hands
The children ..... empty hands
In his empty hands
With his empty hands
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
song performed by by Lenny Kravitz from Let Love Rule
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lelek To Me Forvever / Lelek Meni Zauvijek
Who took away from me, my son
To mourn above your grave, my son
To go below with you, my son
To reach the sky with a tear, my son
To spill a cloud from my breasts, my son
To open the heaven's door with a cry, my son
For you a heaven to enter, my son
To curse with a curse
To burn with a thunder, my son
I swear with a thunder in the wing of rain, my son
Made of my milk from my breasts, my son
Lelek lelek to me forever, my son
Lelek to me forever
Cut from breasts with empty hands I stand, my son
In drops I pour in clouds I'm hidden, my son
With bread in my mouth a bitter piece, my son
A cradle rocking in a grave, my son
Feed the earth with earth a grian of my pain, my son
Armfuls of sobs on fire to burn, my son
May the dawn freeze and outbreak halt, my son
Lelek lelek to me forever, my son
Lelek to me forever
I let my hair loose, my son
I tore my plaits, my son
Better to be in your grave, my son
Than to sleep with a stone on my chest, my son
Lelek lelek to me forever, my son
Lelek to me forever
Oh why did I deliver you at all, my son
Under this ruthless sky, my son
Your eyes dead to see, my son
Your hands dead to cross, my son
Your hair dead to caress, my son
Your cheek cold to kiss, my son
The sky will break from my pain, my son
The earth will open from my pain, my son
Swallow everything living in pain, my son
Into the black earth with my pain, my son
Lelek lelek to me forever, my son
Lelek to me forever
poem by Miroslava Odalovic
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Call To Arms Denied
We called for arms, Julia.
Boom! Clash! Crash!
The crimson sky can see us
The vermilion soil heeds no vanguard
Julia, we are alone in this
I held you in my callused hands
And we dodge, run, and mangled
Through carrion with black bones
As we taunt death face to face
Closer than your glacial patina
They can see us, they goad us
Their echoing voices spattered with shrapnel
Splintering the defenseless prayers
Until the circle closes in
To suffocate the last sigh of life
They will separate us, Julia.
And we called to arms, denied
The enemy came with big guns
And clouds of blind destruction
So I kissed your lips and pulled the trigger,
Turned the spigot of rubies on
Before they arrive to sliver my bone
And we cried, calling to arms
The paranoia won and its suppurations
Lives on, carries on
To the skeptical and fearful
And the war goes on.
poem by Norman Santos
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“The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still”
The rank stench of those bodies haunts me still
And I remember things I'd best forget.
For now we've marched to a green, trenchless land
Twelve miles from battering guns: along the grass
Brown lines of tents are hives for snoring men;
Wide, radiant water sways the floating sky
Below dark, shivering trees. And living-clean
Comes back with thoughts of home and hours of sleep.
To-night I smell the battle; miles away
Gun-thunder leaps and thuds along the ridge;
The spouting shells dig pits in fields of death,
And wounded men, are moaning in the woods.
If any friend be there whom I have loved,
God speed him safe to England with a gash.
It's sundown in the camp; some youngster laughs,
Lifting his mug and drinking health to all
Who come unscathed from that unpitying waste:
(Terror and ruin lurk behind his gaze.)
Another sits with tranquil, musing face,
Puffing bis pipe and dreaming of the girl
Whose last scrawled letter lies upon his knee.
The sunlight falls, low-ruddy from the west,
Upon their heads. Last week they might have died
And now they stretch their limbs in tired content.
One says 'The bloody Bosche has got the knock;
'And soon they'll crumple up and chuck their games.
'We've got the beggars on the run at last!'
Then I remembered someone that I'd seen
Dead in a squalid, miserable ditch,
Heedless of toiling feet that trod him down.
He was a Prussian with a decent face,
Young, fresh, and pleasant, so 1 dare to say.
No doubt he loathed the war and longed for peace,
And cursed our souls because we'd killed bis friends.
One night he yawned along a haIf-dug trench
Midnight; and then the British guns began
With heavy shrapnel bursting low, and 'hows'
Whistling to cut the wire with blinding din.
He didn't move; the digging still went on;
Men stooped and shovelled; someone gave a grunt,
And moaned and died with agony in the sludge.
Then the long hiss of shells lifted and stopped.
He stared into the gloom; a rocket curved,
And rifles rattled angrily on the left
Down by the wood, and there was noise of bombs.
Then the damned English loomed in scrambling haste
Out of the dark and struggled through the wire,
And there were shouts and eurses; someone screamed
And men began to blunder down the trench
Without their rifles. It was time to go:
He grabbed his coat; stood up, gulping some bread;
Then clutched his head and fell.
I found him there
In the gray morning when the place was held.
His face was in the mud; one arm flung out
As when he crumpled up; his sturdy legs
Were bent beneath bis trunk; heels to the skye.
poem by Siegfried Sassoon
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The Day The Sun Stood Still
We were young and bound for glory
Itchin' for a fight like you
Bringin' hell and purgatory
To the boys who wore the blue
And I thought I'd seen it all
Till the day night wouldn't fall
Oh, how the sun did blaze
Wouldn't go down for days
I got shot and lost my rifle
When the first wave hit the rise
And the guns rolled out like thunder
And the black smoke burned my eyes
And I watched it all unfold
Just the way the Bible told
Joshua's endless day
Keepin' the night at bay
And the soldiers kept a comin'
Til the ground looked like a sea
Of blue and grey
And I watched it from a distance
Wonderin' if I would've fought or run away
The day the sun stood still
How they beat the bloody drums
And the seconds moved like hours
But the sunset never comes
And the cannons shake the ground
And the bullets test your will
Even shadows found no cover
On that Godforsaken hill
The day the sun stood still
And I watched them lean their shoulders
To the fearful hail of lead
And I prayed for night to save us
And I cried and bowed my head
Bt the sun just kept a-creepin'
'Cross a cold indifferent sky
Castin' a deadly glow
On all the men below
All the hours in a lifetime
Don't add up to one while minute in that sun
And the heroes and the cowards
Look the same when they have fallen by the gun
The day the sun stood still
And the north and south looked west
But the evening star was sleeping
And the daylight wouldn't rest
Out on the killing floor
The red sun on the the hill
Shinin' down on all the dead men
With a strange and eerie chill
The day the sun stood still
-a
song performed by by Travis Tritt
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Skeletons (home Demo)
I was following adventure, nothing mattered
And I knew best
I had a blood in my head, no one could shake it
Cause I knew best
But now I find
Remains of people that I left behind
I never took them once
I never, skeletons tell me hit me now and then
Because, skeletons to say I told you so again
Wish I'd done things differently
Cause skeletons don't set you free
I'd make a life for myself, I'd be a bigshot
Cause I knew best
I had high expectations, I was headstrong
And I knew best
All of my friends knew
What I was doing to the loving few
I know it's hard to chew
Cause never, skeletons tell me hit me now and then
Because, skeletons to say I told you so again
Wish I'd done things differently
Cause skeletons don't set you free
Well, all I wanted was fame to feed my ego
And I knew best
Cause when you're high on success you get impressed
And I knew best
I knew best
song performed by by Xtc
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In Praise of Hell
Tonight I've an invitation to be in hell
I know it would be a perfect setting
A zombies' party in a stinking dale
With guests carried on vampire wing!
Bloated corpses would be carried around
To feast on with blood in clinking goblet
The dead would rip open the ground
To welcome me their only living mate!
The party would begin as the night's chill
Slowly freezes d hearts of the lost souls
Their hunger goading them to go for a kill
Their hollow eyes glowing like burning coals!
They would dance the length of night
Singing couplets in praise of hell
Under pale moon and ghostly starlight
The living would appear infinitely stale!
Tonight I am invited to hell
There I'd find my new nest
To live forever in the night's spell
And be there as an eternal guest!
poem by Pradip Chattopadhyay
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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