"humvees" poems
The lights did not go out
The walls did not shake and tumble
There were no clarion horns or cymbals
Streets were not awash with blood
But nevertheless blood did run cold.
Promises wrapped in glints of hope
Made screeching sounds as they were broken
And shattered bits of progress
Littered streets and pathways everywhere.
The rumble of the coming doom
Arrived on Humvees made in China
For the use of United Nations troops.
Everybody saw it coming
In vast Tsunamis of dread and fear
But there were simply not enough
Little Dutch Boys in blue hats
To poke their fingers in the dikes
That shuddered as they slid away
And buried ordinary people in the deluge
There was no way to win that war
The Russians tried, so did the French.
You can’t turn oranges into apples
But the women, oh the women
And their pretty little girls
Having had a taste of freedom
In forms that were once denied
They will now be forced by brutes
To give back everything they gained
And become in sad defeat
Merely property of men
swallowed up in flowing burkas
Black as the intentions of their rulers
ljm
Aug 17, 2021
Aug 17, 2021 at 8:47 AM UTC
So wake up and what do we find,
the men in black, oh, aren't they back!
Didnt they blow up them planes
or helped those who did
or those who helped those who did?
or so we heard, why the gringos went
to smoke them out of their vents?
The men in black, oh now so cool -
we share hugs and name our friends!
Women, they won't be flogged in fields,
nor will they chop off erring arms,
nor them planes land in k-har
in exchange for killers barred,
no buddhas left to smash,
or so they say, but for what their books say+:
so the women, just tented,
working from wherever caged,
men must never trim their manes
even the cricketers have turned out to play,
though be just the men eh!
Beware if you are a poet though,
or sing, or a singh - coz nobody sure
if you will be lynched yet;
Half the country is staying shut,
half a million may run (or so says the UN)
But they surely come in peace
armed as they go on our humvees;
Mothers throw their babies over,
what a liberation! perfect sense
to the kahn across the Durand fence;
And no we here across the Jhelum
so busy with the mayhem
that anderson's caused to our playmen;
Oh the reformed men in spotless black
they're back across the pens,
and we can now go back to sleep
with not a ***** in our conscience
+or as they say they say -
they all say how they say
is what the books say anyway
Aug 29, 2021
Aug 29, 2021 at 2:09 PM UTC
In this world of uncertainty there will be a defining moment of judgment and regret,
And when the world falls to its knees and trembles you will remember,
It is because WE dared,
It is because we stood against those who Oppressed,
It is because we stood against the tyrants,
It is because we faced the murderers,
It is because when the world turned its backs and ignored the death of the our own children that we rose,
We who dared to take a stand,
We who dared stand against the death and destruction,
It is we who dared stand shoulder to shoulder across the lands and being so few,
Took a stand against many,
It is We who dared to resign ourselves to whichever fate befalls us,
It is we who offered all, mind, limb, body, and soul,
It is we that walk the streets where the very road can explode without notice and rip bone and flesh
It has been our screams that pierce the night,
Our blood which turns the sands crimson,
It is our hearts that are shattered, our minds broken,
Broken by the sight of innocent children torn apart, disemboweled by the explosions,
It is We that have seen the women and children grown accustom to guns and death,
To soldiers walking the streets as giants, wearing armor and war,
To the rumbling of humvees, tanks, and behemoths driving the streets,
It is we who stand with grim determination ready to sweat, bleed, and **** and die,
And it WE who have stood against our nations enemies since birth,
It is we who have dared to sacrifice,
It is WE who have been forgotten and left by friends, family, and lovers,
BUT,
It is WE who dare,
When the world crumbles around your feet,
When all your injustices of forgetfulness, of hate and protest come to light,
And when you fall to your knees with hands held to the sky and your cries fill the night,
When your screams echo into eternity and beg for We to save you,
It is then that WE who dare,
WE who have remembered all that we have lost, all that you have taken from us,
All that you have spit on us, have thrown at us, all those hateful things you have said to us,
IT is We who will hear your cries and remember,
And then it is WE who dare,
It is WE who dare to stand ready and we will reply,
WE DARE, and WE WILL FIGHT
Nov 26, 2010
Nov 26, 2010 at 3:33 PM UTC
The troops are worn out,
the Army stretched thin,
we’re recruiting delinquents,
the old and the dim.
We got rid of the gays,
to preserve the troops’ purity .
Even those who spoke Arabic,
no matter how fluently.
(Mistakes will be made,
for lack of translation.
But isn’t that better
than eternal damnation?)
We’re telling the soldiers
“One more tour of duty.”
The program’s called “stop loss;”
it might cause mutiny.
The Humvees are patched
with armor homemade,
that won’t stop the bombs
or rocket grenades.
Veterans are stricken
with nightmares and fears.
Some find no escape from
their dreams or their tears.
It’s no longer a war;
it’s called occupation.
But we don’t seem to know
how to rebuild a nation.
We’re good with artillery
and planting land mines.
But what we can’t do
is win hearts and minds.
The lessons of history
seem lost on our leaders,
who don’t seem to be scholars,
but careful poll readers.
There are those we must judge
for their lies and their crimes
and the grief they have caused
in these sad and dark times.
How many years
will we take to recover
from this ill-planned debacle
and it’s not even over?
It will take Iraq longer,
from all the blood spilled,
from the wounds we inflicted--
their country, we killed.
May 27, 2017
May 27, 2017 at 8:41 PM UTC
Silent Night,
Cold winds softly blow.
Soft sand crunches,
As the Humvees roll.
Into the Silent Night,
Into the Valley of Death.
A flare sparks,
A loud sound screeches in the night.
The Humvees stop.
Bright orange light,
Shouts of Pain follows,
Then all is quiet.
Cold Night,
In the Valley of Death,
The Humvees stop.
Silent Night.
May 24, 2012
May 24, 2012 at 5:26 PM UTC
Where's the rest of Third Platoon, I asked
The boys who came up to me,
"Dead, Captain", said the Lieutenant, "All gone",
I'd better get back to the letters I've been writing,
I think, wondering what is worse,
Dying, or having to keep a tally of all the boys
Who die, hideously in the helicopters,
On fields and in Humvees.
I need rescuing
Cowardice is tempting, shoot myself in the foot,
Go home to a limp, a wounded leg and a blackened memory,
What is left of honour, except threads of our flag,
Blanketing my men in coffins that reach unannounced,
In civilian lines.
I wish I could say something about the deceased,
The martyred, as the Colonel likes to
call them,
The Heroes are those who come back afraid of noises,
Loud speakers, and lightning,
Because it reminds them of Patrol Duty.
I'm still here, at the front lines,
Wondering if I can call it a day,
My gun is cradled in my arms,
Like a woman, (but I've lost her too).
Jul 10, 2015
Jul 10, 2015 at 1:49 PM UTC
Between
Cars, trucks, buses,
semi’s, RV’s, diesels,
motorcycles, economy cars,
jeeps, humvees, motor homes,
lays a
long yellow line:
an unending parade
of sound and fury.
Aug 8, 2016
Aug 8, 2016 at 5:54 PM UTC
Between
Cars, trucks, buses,
semi’s, RV’s, diesels,
motorcycles, economy cars,
jeeps, humvees, motor homes,
lays a
long yellow line:
an unending parade
of sound and fury.
The wind
In between
Blowing wild and loud
putting out careless embers
thrown thoughtlessly by drivers
of the never-ending machines
each one bringing me closer or farther
from home
which is empty without you
Nov 17, 2016
Nov 17, 2016 at 1:49 PM UTC