Ballad of the Legion Etrangere

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paraboxer
Member

since 2002-11-10

Posts 121
Maryland, USA

0 posted 2003-09-27 09:39 AM

(AN: DBLE is French for Half Brigade. This was based on a dream I had last night and later sections will be connected to my poem Lili Marlene in the Corner Pub #2 section.)

Bir Hacheim

Dusty clouds whipped across the desert sand.
No dry wind sent this cloud aloft to soar.
Instead this was instigated by a far more sinister band.
This was stirred by the ranks of the Afrika Korps.

Our officers ordered, “Fight and stand fast.”
“Oui Mon Capitaine.” As we set tanks afire.
The Germans returned fire in quantities vast.
Our fortress in the sand was to be our funeral pyre.

Men of the 13e DBLE fell around me, dead,
Valiant legionnaires to the very end.
Our brave capitaine, shot through the head.
Valiantly we stood at this place we were told to defend.

Many years have passed that desert day.
And I, the only survivor, set upon my lonely way.

Marty Baird
Member

since 2003-09-20

Posts 90
Georgia, U.S.

1 posted 2003-09-27 10:43 AM

Dreams are good for providing motivation

dingusjr
Member

since 2003-09-24

Posts 415
Missouri

2 posted 2003-09-27 12:06 PM

have you had a previous life or what? your poem intrigued me.
Larry

paraboxer
Member

since 2002-11-10

Posts 121
Maryland, USA

3 posted 2003-09-27 02:14 PM

(A/N: I study History, that's why the detail is so sharp. Legio Patria Nostra means the Legion is Our Homeland.)

Paris 1939

The outbreak of war.
Three years afar.
I was not yet a legionnaire.
I was a romantic without a care.

I still see your kind smile.
That lifted my spirit, no matter how the
day was vile.
Then one night at the university.
That I lost to angst and insecurity.
The lovely fall day's beauty was as lost
as my soul.

Your heart belonged to another.
So I decided to become a brother.
In the Foreign Legion, far in the sands.
The pain burned into me like a hot brand.

There was only a les ancien on duty that night.
With tear clouded eyes I signed my name.
Because someone had already staked their
claim.
All I can do now is march and fight.
Legio Patria Nostra...

QjQ
Member Elite

since 2003-04-18

Posts 3756
U.S.A.

4 posted 2003-09-27 07:29 PM

Enjoyed,,,,

paraboxer
Member

since 2002-11-10

Posts 121
Maryland, USA

5 posted 2003-10-01 10:36 PM

Africa 1940

France has fallen to the German cannonade.
Under the Arch de Triumphe they did parade.
The desert sun beats down, without pity.
The sand blows towards us, a rain gritty.

The men of the unit are like brothers to me.
I feel like I still suffer a burn, 3rd degree.
We wait to face the Germans in the sands.
In a unit famed for fierce last stands.

I think of you, trapped in Occupied France.
Between the Resistance Dagger and German lance.
Je ne regrette rien.
I have no regrets.

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