OPEN MIC ENCORE II - The War Poems
March, 2003
man eat man
donnie ray
countless millions
have been slaughtered
swimming in the endless
river of blood
one by one
fall to the ground
what are they fighting for?
is it for fame or for territory?
acid tears cloud the eyes
dying breath slowly fade
dreams fall apart
innocent bathe in blood
.........silence
~#~
Why the looming war?
Austin O. Nwaka
When would the globe get rid of war?
Gulf wars were once fought!
Even civil wars within nations were still fought!
Minatory gulf wars on global peace again!
Oh, what a tottering global peace!
War of wars tearing the 'conspicuous peace'
Of the globe!
Why the looming war I say?
Can war still bring global peace?
Can global peace be gained through war?
Hitherto, peace has not been gained through war!
Where is the 'entente' between these countries of peace?
Grudges of the two 'elephant giants'
Are ravaging the world peace
As ravaging as...
War, not a last resort to peace I say!
They struck peace...
They mused war in their...
What an embattlement of peace!
The dread of mass nuclear weapons of
Mass destruction is terrorizing world peace
Leaping cold war is tolling, tolling and tolling...
Causing disunity of world concord!
Intrigue is torpedoing world peace!
Is the built-world peace disappearing again?
Discordant views has plunged the world peace into threat
Oh! the big powers' might!
No to war, yes to peace!
No to wars of violence I say!
Another gulf war might not help...
Be true democrats of the globe!
Why the looming war I say?
The renowned amity of the 'contentious countries'
Is disappearing...
Eerie dreads are stalking the third world countries...
'Big powers' have not proved to be true democrats!
The superiority and the inferiority at daggers drawn!
War, an 'anti-civilization' poses a menace...
Whatever 'sally' by the big powers might sent strong waves
To international peace
The odds of this minatory war
Are likely...
Who knows?
He who fights to wear the 'diplomatic diadem'
Is not the superior-nation-of-the-nations!
The world must learn to bridge peace
Stop dividing the world with war
War, an act of barbarism
Poses a threat to world peace!
Let's declare truce!
~#~
Deborah Smith
Snowmen say goodbye
Slowly their ranks melt away
Leaving brown carpet
For the Green Berets of Spring
March up above and beyond
~#~
NEVER NO NEVER (CHILDRENS CHILDRENS)
PAUL AVERY
Never no what you've got till its all gone
like sipping water from a pond.
But like the trees with roots it spreads
to the empty well all routes lie dead.
Across a barren land our feet will tread
through the flowing fields that we've turn to cement.
Now we pull down the forests and label them home
this once was the place were the animals roamed.
We turn to our children but what can we see
lost to the world of hate and greed.
We look to the heavens with tears in our eyes
but this has been replaced by a blood red sky...
~#~
TIGHTROPE
(Remembering Vietnam)
Angel Berrios
There were two years, no; three,
that I spent in that godforsaken land,
ruined, collapsed, wasted,
destroyed completely by war,
done by absurdly insane men,
fighting incessantly day and night.
Politicians kept telling us,
that it was an essential war,
to maintain that dreadful enemy,
far away from our land,
attacking always showing no mercy,
without stopping, all the time.
But we, that spent those years,
days and nights fighting in foxholes,
and looking for the elusive enemy,
thought always differently,
and spent our tour of duty,
with our lives on a tightrope.
~#~
Learning To Be Strong
By: Amanda Lewis
A tragedy occurred,
On September 11, 2001,
An extremely intense experience,
That's only just begun.
A group of angry terrorists,
Hijacked four 767’s
And sent thousands of innocent people,
Straight up to god and heaven.
They harshly hit the trade buildings
And then the pentagon,
Thank god at least one plane missed,
And crashed somewhere far beyond.
This all happened in New York,
At exactly 8:48
By the time anyone knew what to do,
It was obviously to late.
Whenever I think about that day
It makes me feel so bad.
I think about the people,
About the lives they would have had,
I think about the children,
Who now have no moms or dads.
I feel so badly for those people,
Who's lives have been shattered,
Who's hearts have been broken,
And whose souls have been battered.
As I go to sleep each night,
I pray for those involved,
That god would mend their aching hearts
And teach them to be strong.
~#~
GHOST SHIPS
Liz Roussin
Rolling waves crash on the shore,
Ghost ships sail from tales of lore.
Silently sailing into the night,
darkness surrounds them...no moon for sight.
They float on the waters deep,dark and cold,
hear of the sailors in legends of old.
They call out to you as you walk on the beach,
heroic their struggles, now a memory is each.
Remember the men who's fate's now a tale,
if you see a Ghost ship in winters strong gale.
~#~
The End
Kait H.
Ten minutes left
Until it all ends
Until our freedom ceases
To exist
The decision will arise
Negative in outcome
Yet they still pursue it
One more day
Until we blow it all up
End the possibilities of peace
Half a year left
Until
The world does not exist
One day left
Until the atomic bomb
Creates disaster
Ten minutes left
Until
This world
Does not exist
~#~
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
Bill Chene
The other night I listened to some slam poets. They were
Slamming about America the beautiful. But each one
Could only describe pieces of it, as though America
Was cordoned off with yellow tape like some huge crime scene.
As if, here or there a transgression had taken place,
A war or maybe some poverty, or a national disgrace
Or a drug deal gone bad or the farmers, losing
Everything they have to some agribusiness.
But the yellow tape was stretching everywhere, long stringers
Flagging in the breeze. Its yellow fingers spreading
Out over the land, drifting out from the rough New York
Streets, then around the chalk outline where a tourist
Used to be. Those black words on yellow tape,
CRIME SCENE, DO NOT PASS, stretching all the way
To Dallas, then to LA and everywhere I looked along
The way America was under arrest
But had gotten away.
And now the morgue’s the only place where
You don’t have to pay but even that won’t last for long
‘Cause you see, the meat trucks, they just keep rolling along
As the people are taken away, the way of Dodo,
The way of the Indian… but then, they didn’t know
That America was on the run, running from today,
Had left the farm and was eating its young
To keep them from harm, had gone crazy,
Was doing drugs and had gotten fat and lazy.
We heard that America was hiding out,
Holed up in some run down tenement in Cleveland.
So we, in the new American underground
Were just trying to help by sneaking in cassette tapes
Of Lawrence Welk and jars of sterile saline,
Boxes of syringes and kilos of “three count P”,
Stacks of country hams and Jim Beam, candy bars
And porno magazines. We fed it speed until it gagged
And gave it fresh babies wrapped in bloody flags.
We just tried to keep America alive long enough
For the economy and the stock market to revive
Or for that yellow tape to fully unravel, long enough
To surround every chalk line as it traveled
Across America the beautiful, tracing new crimes,
Multiplying like hobby stamps on all of the streets
And floors and broken lamps and bloodstained carpets
And busted down doors, white outlines around the lost…
And the homeless, the hungry and the stillborn poor
And anyone who said they did or didn’t want more.
Long enough for that cotton ball to bloom,
For the juice to melt in the spoon, for that sweet jazz
To fill the room, to fill the veins and ease that stirring pain.
For America the beautiful to finally get over getting sick
After that disposable needle sticks
In between its big green toes.
~#~
To The Troops Overseas
lisa canfield
Here's hoping to your return.
Come back again, back on land.
Where freedom does reign and burn
Unlike Iraqi sand.
May a thousand prayers be with you.
May higher powers lead you strong
May courage and faith and American pride
Be your guides all day long.
Fight like you have never fought before.
Not with fists, but with sharpened minds.
Think of what may be, of what may come,
If Hussein crossed those lines.
Think of all those lives that would be lost
All that innocent flesh.
Saddam would maim and kill some more,
He wouldn't even second guess.
Yes, fight, fight! Fight!
But as you do, please remember
Those lives that were lost and extinguished,
Back in the early hours of September.
So don't fight out of hate.
Fight out of simplicity and love.
For that is what the United States,
Is truly made of.
Red, white and blue.
Colors of our bruise.
Heal the nation, cure the sick
This is the power you must use.
To the troops overseas,
Be careful, be not afraid.
For a nation is behind you,
Family, friends, … strangers
An American parade.
Find strength in your allies
Find commitment in your vows
Find honor in your profession
Find armor in your bows.
Do not worry, marine soldier,
Do not be scared, troopers so young,
There is nothing to be frightened of
For a new beginning has begun.
So please come back, soldiers.
Come back with your mission complete.
Come home to where you once were born
Where, on welcome mats,
You wipe your boots and feet.
Come back to open arms.
Come back to of which you are.
Come back, soldiers, come back.
Come back, from away afar.
~#~
Three Robed Men
bambi lynne
A memory half seized,
I’m begging three white robed men please! please! please!
Cry! Not enough water in the sky.
Begging for more than life.
Maybe I killed, Father Natures wife.
Not allowed to seize or know, this memory so powerful,
I fear to let go.
For half a memory did not hide.
Maybe my last chance, to write my last ride.
~#~
Unaffected.
-Alicia Middleton
On hearing the news,
My heart leapt from my chest.
My ears I knew weren't deceived.
These terrible people have hit too close,
They have threatened my family.
I cannot believe that such hate exists.
That such anger could swell inside me.
I don't know if I'd be able to hold strong,
If I ever had to walk my mum down that dreadful road.
How could I look her innocent kids in the eye,
And have to tell them the worst?
I cannot sleep.
I wake up screaming, my face wet with tears.
The memory of my mothers face as they tell her
Her husbands not coming home,
Engraved in my mind.
How can these people
Knowingly inflict such terrifying pain?
This war is breaking my heart
With every explosion.
And yet everyone around me
Seems so eerily unaffected.
Doesn't anyone feel like me?
A Frightening Thought
Author: Lisa Hecht-13 years old
It's a whole new world,
And all unpleasantries are being unfurled
People are running for their lives,
And the pain is the stab of one thousand knives.
It is horrible to watch, and traumatizing to see,
And knowing that we
Can help, but are too afraid to think of what might happen
Then our own lives will become misshapen.
What if this were happening to us?
And we had to live in a world with only people who are wuss?
This is why we have to believe,
And stick together as a country.
As a nation, as a world,
And settle the differences that are being hurled
At one another, right now it is not alright that we are not the same
But we have the ability to aim.
~#~
RED NIGHT
AUSTYN NJOKU
The bubbling day is done
the silvery rays are gone
and i search for song
in your laden tongue
but this night is long!
The amber glow is gone
darkness comes to mourn
the moon disrobes the sky
the stars hide and truly cry
but this night is long!
And they sailed away
on that worsted day
with bomb songs to sing
what a sad song to sing
for this night is forever long!
~#~
THE DAY BEFORE WAR
An anagram poem - "The Day Before War" uses exactly the
same letters as the well-known "The Night Before Christmas"
David Bourke
'Twas the day before war, when in The White House,
The President cursed: "Why, that damn Arab louse!
I have unfinished business to do for my Pa!",
That hick Texan cowboy then shouted: "Yee-hah!"
Then missiles were primed in the launchers with care,
In the hope that soon Baghdad would no more be there,
With Stealth jets, heavy tanks, and the Gulf full of ships,
He thought of the conflict, and then licked his lips.
"Now, Donald! Now, Dick! Now, Condi! Now, Colin!
What say that we take out that raghead? Get rollin!
Now Wolfie! Now Scooter! Now, Jumper! Now, Tom!
Why, let's deal with Saddam! Away now! Let's bomb!"
When down the chimney came Blair (with the lovely Cherie),
Dressed all flash, in plum. (Oh, a daft sight to see!).
He high-fived, and he smiled like a smug Cheshire cat,
And then, like a poodle, at the halfwit's feet sat.
"Howdy pardner!" said George. Tony gushed: "Oh, hello!",
"Why, how y'all been, chum?" - "Jolly well, thanks...you
know".
"Hey, thanks from the Yanks! We sho' preciate that!".
"Thanks, Dubs! Love that wonderful ten-gallon hat!"
When he picked up his guitar, and had started to play,
Bush said with a wince: "Hey buddy, put it away!
Of U.N. peace agreements it's a material breach".
And then Tony went into his pre-prepared speech:
"We stand shoulder-to-shoulder to end the production,
Of Iraq's tools of death, and of mass destruction,
I mean, look, doing nothing's, well...you know...not on,
So we must do what's right 'til his arsenal is gone.
From the fight against evil we must never recoil,
When they're one of the world's largest sources of oil.
And when his inhumane weapons are all accounted for,
We shall get on the phone, to sell him some more".
The United Nations spouted hot air and dithered,
Back to George's side, off the boy Tony slithered.
The phone rang (as they do) - `twas Hans Blix on the line,
He said: "Saddam's disarming", and Bush replied: "Fine!
Why, I'll still kick his ass, I cannot make things clearer,
Blow him sky-high on Sky News, and on Al-Jazeera,
He has just no idea how numbered his days are,
When down on his moustache, I shall aim a guide-laser.
Man, I'd flatten his palace, he'd have no place to hide,
Then I'd stick a Scud right up his stinking backside,
When his Republican Guard fall, reduced to mere bone.
The French wimps wanna veto? Fine. Then we'll go it alone!
Now, it happens the States has an American Dream:
Like Afghanistan...replace his hellish, violent regime!
The missiles will take off in that harsh desert heat,
Then they'll fly away northward, and finish Tikrit.
He'll be over a barrel, and North Korea can wait,
When I start World War Three off, with Tone, my old mate.
Hand-in-hand with the British, we shall fight this just fight,
With God on our side. Here's to world peace: Goodnight!"
~#~
confused
andrea calvo
as i try to understand
wishing i could look
at the world
look at it from a different
point of view
as i try to understand
wishing i a could look know
how the world is turning
towards me or against me?
as i try to understand
wishing i could hide
inside me
inside my own beliefs
as i try to understand
wishing i could know
what to do
know what is my purpose
i try to understand
but i am confused
i will try better next time
~#~
Worlds Apart Unrecognized
Bobby Stamen
A day breaks
a bomb drops
a biscuit falls
a baby cries
no one to hold
no one to bold
a life is destroyed.
Why did it not matter?
The bomb explodes
times up!
All for heavens sakes
it must have been to late.
She dies and holds her baby while it cries.
Praying and begging...
all, in heavenly peace.
~#~
War
Rich Hornaman
Lost are many lives
All because of greediness
War never has stopped
~#~
It is time
Sargent cmcchesney
Time to let go of loving hands
Time to let tears go and dry your eyes
Put hearth and home behind, stay the course
Check socks, first aid, ammunition, and that best friend, your weapon
Clean it, oil it, caress it close to your chest, keep it dry
It's a long flight with precious little sleep
A last reflection on loved ones and family
A chance to pray for strength and courage
A period to pick up momentum and concentrate on the task at hand
Next the battlefield, desolate desert, hot, cold, confusing, patient for blood
Both sides appear poised and ready
But you young warriors, Airborne, Marines, Spec Ops, Fly Boys, Sailors
The greatest leader of all history goes before you into battle
The ONE and Only, The General of the Armies of Elect Angels
Let Him hold your fear for you while you fight
Make your shots count, each enemy kill is a job well done
Only dead enemy soldiers are good ones
They can not shoot, kill your teammates, kill you or hurt anyone else
As the sun rises and you push forward into the smoke, fire, and horrid sounds
of combat
As the blood of your fellow squad members and buddies is shed
The prayers, hopes, best wishes of those old warriors like me are with you
My belief in your abilities, your bravery, and ultimate victory is unwavering
Now, you must fight and if so deemed by GOD above, die for freedom
The same liberty for which your great grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers
have sacrificed all
This war and annihilation of our enemies is essential if we are to continue
living free
GOD is with you, JESUS CHRIST will lead you, His Angels will protect you
We who must regretfully stay behind truly support and wholly love you
It is time
~#~
Texas Haiku
ballard
We bomb Iraq to free their people
Then take their oil and sell it here
And use the revenues to pay American companies
To rebuild their country.
~#~
~American Stars~
bailey montes
"As our soldiers go to war,
they go very far."
"In that dark, glowy sky,
I look at the stars,
I wonder how many soldiers have gad freedom and brave scars."
"American soldiers are very strong,
They fight for our country,
where we belong,
It could take all yearlong."
"They are our savior,
they have our honor,
like no other."
"So I look in the sky,
I see the brightsest star,
As tear comes down my face,
I begin to sigh."
"people know all this,
but they still ask why?!"
~#~
"YOU"
Terri Smalling
Through the years
We grew apart
But, forever, your memory
Stay'd in my heart
Many days I
Stop and think of you
With a smile, I remember
All the things we use to do
All the tears and secrets
That we share
All the times that it seemed
Only we care
And since you went away
I've never found
A true friend
That my heart could be bound
Each night I look up into the sky
And make a wish, on a bright star
For the good lord
To keep you safe - where-ever you are
~#~
H.B.O.
(Harmony Beyond Obstacles)
K.C.Colt
Listen my people!
The cost of love
Cost your lives
In order to get along
Without somebody.
No excuses given
Or taken!
We live in this world
So get along!
Go beyond race
And race for the common goal of love.
Stop putting guns in each other's hands,
And hand them an olive leaf of peace.
Educate,
Relate,
No hate!
With open arms
Show compassion
Show love.
Let's tear down that wall
And love again...
~#~
God's own country
didgesteve
The hills are my brethren,
the mountains my friend,
And my love for this land of
the lakes knows no end.
I find solace in the valleys,
and strength in the skies,
And my heart is alive
with the joy of my eyes.
I look to the skies -
rich with colour and depth,
As the soft mountain mist
gently cushions my step.
I draw breath with the mountains,
and find hope with the rain,
And I feel the leaves tremble
When the wind speaks again.
The rainbows are many -
I witness the birth -
When the skies weep with joy, and
the sun’s rays feed the earth.
So I walk with the clouds,
and give thanks for the day,
And the wind sifts my sorrows
and blows them away.
The moods are unending -
it is never the same,
Be it magical mists,
or the soft mountain rain.
But I could seek no finer
companion and guide,
Than the wee faithful dog
That walks close at my side.
I see chattering stream
beside beckoning lane,
And glory at rainbows
without any rain.
The birds give their hearts
as their song lifts the skies.
And the clouds brush my cheek,
wiping tears from my eyes.
Yes…
With the mountain - and river,
the sky - and the tree,
My soul is at peace..
and my spirit is free.
Poems copyright ©
designated authors 2003.
Page Copyright © AHApoetry.com 2003.
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