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Open Poetry #32
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Magnus
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Member Laureate
since 2001-10-10
Posts 14135
South Carolina, USA

0 posted 2004-05-17 04:27 PM


Boys, mere boys
carrying the world’s weight
upon soft shoulders.

Carpenters, farmers, all
walks of life,   standing in
long rows, scarcely clad,
nervously awaiting the
single word....”Next!”

Poked, prodded, examined,
stamped fit for duty, sworn in
beneath a flag, one they would
cherish and guard with their
lives from that day forward.
Until death or victory, until
capture or injury.

The boats, filled with souls
shivering from the fear of a moment
that awaited them against a hail of
bullets that noisily clanged against
a thin steel hull as a boat
labored against the seas toward
what would make Hell seem a
walk in the park.

Suddenly, the lurch of sand scraping
against the bottom, telling that time
had come to find what destiny awaited
them.

So many died, the screams of death
drowned out by the staccato of machine
guns, rifles, cannon fire from miles
out at sea as shells screamed overhead
like invisible freight trains, seeking
those that strove so desperately to keep
the human tide from coming.

Wading through waters running red,
pushing aside those that never made
that next step.  Finding someone that
had moments ago clasped your hand
or shoulder and said “good luck”
through their own tears.

Yes, boys, mere boys....many to return
home grown, many to never return,  
now buried in rows beneath white
markers....some saying only “unknown.”

D-day....a foreign land...soon to become
home for some, a relenting hell for
others...Yes, boys, mere boys...most
now in eternal rest, many still living
those moments, over and over again
behind silent eyes that do not speak
but tell a story that we must never
ever forget.


© Copyright 2004 Barry J. Tackett - All Rights Reserved
Pilgrimage
Member Elite
since 2001-12-04
Posts 3945
Texas, USA
1 posted 2004-05-17 04:53 PM


Thank you for this one.  They were boys, but they were heroes.

Nan (Pilgrim variety)

Magnus
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Laureate
since 2001-10-10
Posts 14135
South Carolina, USA
2 posted 2004-05-17 04:57 PM


Yes Nan, they all,  from every nation...
most certainly were and are heroes...

Thank You..

Enchantress
Member Empyrean
since 2001-08-14
Posts 35113
Canada eh.
3 posted 2004-05-17 05:12 PM




Thank you for this tribute Barry.

Corinne
Member Ascendant
since 1999-10-28
Posts 5167
state of confusion
4 posted 2004-05-17 05:22 PM


Wonderful, brave write, Magnus.


Corinne

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