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Open Poetry #3
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John Yaws
Senior Member
since 1999-10-09
Posts 860
Texas

0 posted 1999-10-31 06:17 PM


On a pleasant summer evening
In nineteen sixty nine
We were sitting in the parlor
And everything was fine
The telephone began to ring
A Mama said, "Hello".
We knew the news was bad
When her face turned white as snow.
She dropped the phone receiver
And sagged against the wall
And daddy ran to catch her
Afraid that she would fall.
The caller said that Danny-
The oldest of we four
Was victim of a sniper
On some far and distant shore.
He'd said just last October
"We'll fish when I get back"
But they put him in the chopper
In a rubber body sack.
The life went out of Mama
She never smiled again
She'd cry out in her sleep at night
And she grew pale and thin.
We buried her in winter-
Beside where Danny lies
And sometime in the moonlight
I can almost hear her cries.
That sniper in the jungle
Just saw a soldier fall-
But when he pulled the trigger-
I guess he killed us all.
Now every time the telephone
Out in the parlor rings
We all grow still and silent
And tears our eyelids sting.
And there hangs Mama's picture
By Danny's on the wall
Dead from a sniper’s bullet-
And she from one phone call.

© Copyright 1999 John R. Yaws - All Rights Reserved
devina
Member Elite
since 1999-10-28
Posts 3539
Cali
1 posted 1999-10-31 06:27 PM


i can tell that your'e still hurting after all of this time. believe me when i say that i can relate to your poem in a painful way that you might understand. when my father died, my grandmother was so empty inside that the only thing she looked forward to was being reunited with her son when her time came. i believe that when it did three summers ago that only then was she happy. your poem brought tears to my eyes.
Denise
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 1999-08-22
Posts 22648

2 posted 1999-10-31 06:41 PM


Very sad and touching. Heartbreaking.

------------------
Denise


hoot_owl_rn
Member Patricius
since 1999-07-05
Posts 10750
Glen Hope, PA USA
3 posted 1999-10-31 09:16 PM


Wow...I am speachless. This is perhaps one of the best poems I've seen posted. SO personal, so sad, flawless in it's meter and rhyme. I'm sorry for your loss, but this despite it's sadness is a wonderful piece of art.
Watcher666
Senior Member
since 1999-10-13
Posts 1606

4 posted 1999-11-02 04:14 PM


Eloquent, sad and beautifully written.My heart goes out to you.

------------------
Illusion...what we see and what we do...it's all up to you.

Iloveit
Senior Member
since 1999-09-02
Posts 1121
NM
5 posted 1999-11-02 05:01 PM


wow, tearfully beautiful, very well done, and am so sorry for your pain.....hugs
RainbowGirl
Member Elite
since 1999-07-31
Posts 3023
United Kingdom
6 posted 1999-11-02 05:09 PM


The death of someone we love affects so many...

HUGS

------------------
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.


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