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The Last Doughboy
went marching home

mustered up to heaven
to rest in perfect peace

never went over the top
when he was over there

drove an ambulance to save
the last dying bits of humanity

excavated from the craters
reeking with mud and blood

the turgid stench
of blessed death

wafts through the
muddled labyrinth

a ghastly kingdom
of rats and men

intractable mazes
of hate, hope and waste

led by inept generals
vainglorious politicians

promising triumphant victory
while begging disastrous defeat

bold shouts of advance
lead to routed retreats

global trench warfare
the sweet earthen coffins

empathy's last gasp
compassion's last stand

gurgling lungs
gagging on gas

imploding on
clotting blood

liquid ammonia
sears sensitive retinas

wafting flash of fire
burns eyes forever shut

concussive bursts
bludgeon eardrums

ripped bodies of friends
splayed onto comrades

the macabre rouge
a terrible war paint

liberally applied
with stunning result

by the industrial rattle
of cantankerous Gatlings

better minds thought it
the war to end all wars

the horrific scenes of waste
the pleading lips of starved children

the last Doughboy saw it all
a lucky Johnny who marched home

he thought the horror of WWI
would be enough to end all wars

yet all is not quiet
on the western front

Johnny's still got lots
of gruesome guns

distressed humanity
remains very busy

carting away human rubble
from our apocalyptic trenches

go to your reward
valiant Doughboy

"leave us citizens
of death's gray land,

drawing no dividend
from time's tomorrows."

Siegfried Sassoon


Dedicated to

Frank Buckles
(February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011)
Godspeed Beloved


Oakland
3/1/11
jbm
Zombee Aug 2014
april's  Dawn  is  all  but  Cold;
holding  Not  the  paper  Flag­.
fragging  Gatlings, slashing  Throats;
throwing-over  plaster  Tanks.


tangled  Ra­ils  have  sailed  off  Coast,
coats  have  Hanged  from  dangled­  Rope.
boats  have  Sanquine........Daggered  cloaks.
loco  Moti­ves  don't  hold  Back.



but



Baggage  claim  has  made  me  ­Choke.
coaches  Host  a  stage of Battle:
Cattle  prods  n  pods  n  Groves,
growing  Pains  of ­ ancient  Product,


Prada  bags  n  drags  of  Smoke,
broken  Cu­res  of  pure  diSaster,
after  Math  n fractured  Bones,
bowls  of  Ash  n vats  of  Toxins,




Oxy  ma­sks  n  massive  Tokes,
hopes  oF  Dank  n  thanks  oF  Cancer,
c­andid  Land  of  sandy  Coves,
evoking  Cloves........n  copacaBa­nas,


abandoned  Cars  n  bars  of  Gold,
scolding  Coals  n  so­aking  Flesh,
selfish  Goals  n  loads  of  Chocolate,
"Charlies ­ gotta  rotting  Soul."




swollen  Chops  n  blocks  of  Engine­s,
wretched Thoughts  of  wrongful  Justice,
"just  this  Once  i­d  like  to  ****  it."
willful  Whims  n  *****  Wonkas,


walki­ng  Fogs  n  falling  Trenches,
wrenching  Claws  n  talking  Hea­ds,
headless  Worms  n  hordes  oF  Zombies--
robbing  kleptic  L­eprechauns,




calming  Storms  n  swarms  of  Locust,
hocus  Po­***  known  as Magic,
dancing  Trolls  n  tolls  of  Taxes,
Taxi  cabs  n  scalp­y  Tickets,


ticking  Clocks  n  crocks  oF  ****,
shifting  Roc­ks  n  toppling  Stones,
knowing  i  dont  know  the  Past,
passi­ng........Faces,,,,,,,,fading........Rainbows.




© Copyrighted Jesse James Adams
just  Cuz  xD
frozen  Walls  of  tide  may  Crash.
sand bags  hide  a  Way  all  those.
over  all  my  waves  of  Glass:
#sidewaysThoughtfulpose<3
David Feb 2019
Waking up.
Cannot see.
Ords of skeletons
Guided to hell.
Cain kills Abel.
Pure children of white drenched and torn of red leaviathans.
A whole humanity slashed by blazing blood splattering.
Gatlings trespassing skulls and brains.
Nothing more.
Nothing more.
Young died.
Nothing more.
Nothing more.
Black sky
Drenched-by-venom eyes.
Hollow.
Your flag triturating bodies for metal shards.
I cannot see.
Nothing more.
Nothing more.
This is a poem about war, for my great-grandfather,
He fought in First World War.
Most of the people who survived the War were mutilated or crazy,
My great-grandpa was depressed,
When he came back home with his family
He didn't eat anything anymore and decided to suicide himself in that way, dying slowly.

— The End —