"okinawa" poems
The great hanging weak **** of India
on the map
The Fingernail of Malaya
The Wall of China
The Korea
Ti-Pousse Thumb
The Salamander Japan
the Okinawa Moon Spot
The Pacific
The Back of Hawaiian Mountains
coconuts
Kines, balconies, Ah Tarzan-
And D W Griffith
the great American Director
Strolling down disgruntled
Hollywood Lane
- to toot Nebraska,
Indian Village New York,
Atlantis, Rome,
Peleus and Melisander,
And
swans of *****
Spots of foam on the ocean
6.8k
MEMORIAL DAY May 26th, 2014
****************************************************
To all of you that have ever worn "The Uniform",
the uniform of safety and security, the uniform of pride
the uniform of freedom, the uniform of liberty
THE UNIFORM OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
**********
THANK YOU
Thank you to all, in every branch, in every time From:
The American Revolution (most of us have roots to our founders)
The Civil War (North or South)
World War I
World War II
Korea
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Panama
Nicaragua
The Falkland Islands
Somalia
Yugoslavia
Bosnia
Kuwait
Iraq
Afghanistan
Pakistan
The Persian Gulf
**
areas and battlefields such as
(not all locations are listed with no dis-respect)
Lexington/Concord, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Midway Island, Normandy, D-Day, Berlin, Tripoli, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, The 38th Parallel, The Bay of Tonkin, Me Lei, Hanoi, The Hanoi Hilton, Saigon, The ** Chi Minh Trail, Baghdad, Kabul, Ground Zero Manhattan, Pentagon 9/11, a field near Shanksville PA.
and many many more,
you are all heroes and role models, not for a nation, for the world, not for American Patriots, for all humanity, not only on this Memorial Day, for all days and all days to come.
You are appreciated! because freedom has high costs and you pay the price for all of us.
******************************
Godspeed, safety and peace where ever you are.
Sincerely,
Warner C. Baxter Jr.
American Patriot
Scottsdale, AZ. U.S.A.
God bless America
May 25, 2014
May 25, 2014 at 12:44 PM UTC
MEMORIAL DAY
June 1, 2015
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To all of you that have ever worn
"THE UNIFORM"
The Uniform of safety and security,
The Uniform of pride and liberty
THE UNIFORM OF FREEDOM
THE UNIFORM OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANK YOU
Thank you to all, in every branch, in every time From:
1776 - 2015
The American Revolution
The Civil War (North or South)
World War I
World War II
Korea
Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
Panama
Nicaragua
The Falkland Islands
Somalia
Yugoslavia
Bosnia
Kuwait
Iraq
Afghanistan
Pakistan
The Persian Gulf
~~
War Zones and Battlefields, such as:
Lexington/Concord, Gettysburg, Pearl Harbor, Midway Island, Normandy, D-Day, Berlin, Tripoli, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, The 38th Parallel, The Bay of Tonkin, Me Lei, Hanoi, The Hanoi Hilton, Saigon, The ** Chi Minh Trail, Baghdad, Kabul, Ground Zero Manhattan, Pentagon 9/11, a field near Shanksville PA.
and many many more,
(not all locations are listed with no dis-respect)
You are all Heroes and Role Models,
not for a Nation, for A Peaceful Planet
not for Americans, for all Humanity,
not only today this Memorial Day,
for all days and all days to come.
You are appreciated! because freedom has high costs
and you pay the price for all of us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Godspeed, safety and peace where ever you are.
Sincerely,
Warner C. Baxter Jr.
American Patriot
Scottsdale, AZ. U.S.A.
GOD BLESS AMERICA
Semper Vigilo
Jun 1, 2015
Jun 1, 2015 at 2:26 AM UTC
From the starting point in Poland
To the hedgerows of France
High above the English countryside
to the depths of the Atlantic
In the sand-ridden dunes of Egypt, Libya and Tunisia
to the foothills and mountains of Sicily and Italy
From the Pacific to Asia minor
we fought
Storming the beaches of Normandy
to taking back France
From Guadalcanal to Okinawa
from Burma to China
We fought
Aug 18, 2013
Aug 18, 2013 at 11:16 PM UTC
In 1972,
Nixon shook hands with Mao
and the world turned its back on Taiwan.
In 1972,
Ceylon changed its name to Sri Lanka,
Okinawa returned to Japan,
and Jane Fonda became Hanoi Jane.
In 1972,
twin Olympics were held,
hungry tigers on wooden skis dashing
down the white slopes of Sapporo,
while the streets of Munich ran red
with the blood of slain Israelis.
In 1972,
Elvis was still the king,
Elton wasn’t quite the queen
and Prince was still a quiet teen.
On September 21, 1972,
Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos
placed my grandmother’s homeland under martial law.
I was born that day
while my grandmother wept.
Jan 5, 2021
Jan 5, 2021 at 9:17 PM UTC
Midway- Surprise! We saw them
Coming from a mile away.
Japanese aircrafts and ships try and attack,
And they get their butts whooped!
And then we got the idea to island hop!
Hop to Iwo Jima- Slowly.... Slowly.... Don't scare it,
It's like a nest of bees!
And we got it! Two air bases captured
And one step closer to the mainland!
Japan may be fortified, but we
Have tons of muscle!
Hop to Okinawa- this one was a doozy...
The biggest amphibious battle of WWII,
And contained the most casualties! Pretty harsh.
Maybe you they shouldn't have attacked us in the firs place!
We only meant to invade and use the island as a
Springboard towards the mainland, but the
Battle took too long.
Just weeks after the fighting ended, Japan surrendered
And we bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki!
We never got to invade...
Jun 10, 2014
Jun 10, 2014 at 10:18 PM UTC
I won't be on site for some time. I'm writing the story of my father's life. He's 91 years old. In a power chair due to severe arthritis. Almost completely deaf and going blind. He can't read properly now and, being a very bright man, is filled with ennui. He doesn't know what to do with his time. I want to find out about his life. I know parts which I will put in this poem you are about to read...
My father's not a nobleman
Born a farmer's son
He has not the title Prince
In my heart he's surely one
My father is not tall of build
He's not a rugged man
But on his shoulders as a child
I saw the Earth's full span
My father is not wealthy
Has no Goods to share
But in my heart I know his worth
He is a billionaire
He is not a Wise Man
Has not those gifts to share
But he has a high IQ
Is bright beyond compare
Raised in the Great Depression
He ate the slop for pigs
Now he's a survivor
His grave cancer didn't dig!
He saw Okinawa
Eniwetok's grim atoll
Code named "Ivy Mike"
The Bomb landed on it's shoal
He went to MIT
Far 'above his station'
And he did it with a handicap
A 7th grade education
He is not a saint
He is far from 'pure'
But in my mind he's worth it
His tale should endure
So I will write his story
I believe it should be told
He is a curmudgeon
*But he has a heart of gold*
♡ Catherine
Aug 24, 2016
Aug 24, 2016 at 1:55 AM UTC
in Honor of my father
He was born in Isle La Monte
In nineteen twenty six
Son of a plot farmer
The soil to plant and mix
He was a good student
A good lad as a rule
In the winter he would trek
Twelve miles to go to school
An IQ test was given
I will not debate
My father came in second
For the record of the state!
He did achieve much excellence
I think you will agree
He paid his own way
To go to MIT
He served his country loyally
He was a navel man
Was ranked at RT-4
On a LST landing craft
He manned the radio towers
And handed up the shells
The Kamakazi dove to ****
In Okinawa's hell...
He is a faithful husband
And a father who's bar none
If my father'd been on the other side
I believe they would have won!
Now he's on the Dream Flight
To Washington DC
And I tell you that his daughter
Is as proud as proud can be!!!
Apr 18, 2015
Apr 18, 2015 at 1:41 PM UTC
Birds bring me news of an approaching storm
thunder has announced its arrival
the refreshing droplets of liquid life grace the land
an orchestra begins a symphony of life
raindrops upon the roof offer comfort
the sound I hear as nature delivers its song
is like the plucking of the strings of a sanshin
the traditional music of Okinawa now remembered
I am taken back to the time I spent in Naha
I was young then
I had no appreciation for the cherry blossoms
their beauty meant little to me
I had no real understanding of life
nor of the importance of peace of mind
body
and spirit
now older
my heart is ready to accept the natural order of life
I revel in all that it has to offer
if it is true that we came from dirt
and unto dirt we shall return
then it is not news that I and the Earth are one
it is that we are no longer estranged
Jun 24, 2015
Jun 24, 2015 at 6:36 PM UTC
Once in a while when the city lights
are cotton candy and the phone poles
are licorice wires against melon skies
the chatter fades to clacks like drum
beats with the wind inside my lungs
all the cheeks are red bowled Okinawa
sunsets beneath mocha stained tips
of fingers and we are all humbly aware
of the way our feet scuff against the
pavement on our way past the 5th
Avenue Theater.
Feb 9, 2013
Feb 9, 2013 at 12:07 AM UTC
... for not being on site as much as I probably should be. Some of you may know I have been going through some very difficult times. I do not write about these to elicit sympathy. I only want understanding and compassion. Thank you for reading this entire post.
My father was recuperating well, but it's now flagging in his resolve to live. He has almost entirely lost his hearing. He's losing his eyesight. And now he cannot talk. He had to have a trach put in because his vocal cords were frozen and he couldn't breathe. He requires 24-hour care. He cannot return to the high-functioning home where he was staying before. He will now have to go into a nursing home.
It is very hard to witness this. He is a survivor of the battle of Okinawa. He is a survivor of stage 3 throat cancer. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment at the age of 85. He is now 92. I just don't know if he can survive this. I just need to remember he lived a long rich life.
The biggest problem I'm having is that I know my father is not prepared for eternity. He refuses to even discuss the concept of God. He's always been an Atheist. He is a chemist. A scientist. And he was hurt very badly by religion when he was growing up. I have sown seeds, though. Perhaps the Lord will come to him in a dream or vision. I just don't know...
No matter what happens I am prepared. It is just very difficult, and I cannot concentrate very well. Also I and spending a lot more time in my spiritual practices, so please forgive me if I'm not on the site as much as I could be. It does not mean I don't love you... there are people that are on this site who I pray for on a daily basis. I blanket this site with prayer. There are some who might not believe in the power of this, but I have seen miracles happen right here on this site. A young man was cured of malaria just a couple of weeks ago. Prayer is the most loving and powerful thing anyone can do for another person.
I DO IT FOR YOU ALL.
Thank you for reading.
♡ Catherine
Jul 25, 2017
Jul 25, 2017 at 4:31 AM UTC
I met a man with a Y for a hand.
Addressed him timidly, "which war?"
An earnest reply: "the second."
He then went on.
His words were water, gently flooding my mind.
'O pliant paper sea, kindly permit those words to flow from me and into Thee!' For I fear I may drown, held under too long by the rapids I have become.
This is my stranger, the moments he shared:
'Father gone, too young to forgive.
The neighbor boy's '41 Buick leaves dust on his new bicycle.
Upon a cinder track, Father's fleeing footsteps spur him on,
For his is a sadness only speed can overcome.
I know not by what good grace he 'scaped savage Okinawa, with her Endless line of bayonets, but I do know this:
That cinder track, in devotion absolute, forgot its form, stretching from an Imperfect oval to a path at once straight and serpentine, leading you from foxhole to foxhole, past ambush and anguish.
No victory lap here; just heavy iron tread snapping shoots of bamboo spread for a finish line.
Silence and silence alone greets him as he collapses post-race, leaving three fingers to Okinawa and departing post-haste.'
I had all but succumbed to his tale, each new sentence a towering breaker Pummeling me into the darkness of my aquatic consciousness.
I reached out, finding a precious grasp extracting me from jealous eddies and Lonely currents.
Though our handshake held seven where ten should rightly go, it was yet more complete than any I have known.
Jun 14, 2014
Jun 14, 2014 at 8:31 PM UTC
Every droplet the distant drizzle brings,
Every perfect chrysalis, every glow,
Like seasons, they will blossom, wither, go,
And linger in the living heart of things.
A single moment holds eternity.
And yours is lurking somewhere, out of sight,
Drowned by the silver waters of the night,
Buried beneath a hollow lilac tree.
I see the reed bed where we said goodbye.
We watched how slowly darkness filled the sky.
Deigos floated astray across the pool.
The chirping of the crickets left the glade.
Besides the rim, perhaps a willow swayed.
Perhaps the harvest moon was beautiful.
Aug 25, 2019
Aug 25, 2019 at 2:58 PM UTC
Thanks goes to my father
Without him we'd be lost
He gave his life to all of us
A family came with cost
When I was but two years old
He went to MIT
But he had to leave that school
My mom was sick, you see
He had to work much harder
For everything we owned
He saved and scraped and gave himself
So we could have a home
When he was but a little boy
He had to walk to school
During Vermont winters
Which were harsh and cruel
He was tested for IQ
When he was in 8th grade
His scores were highest in the state
So building blocks were laid
For his education
Was paramount to him
He walked twelve miles to high school
Through snow and sleet and rain
He was radar technician
During WWII
He was in Okinawa
A sailor tried-and-true
So our education
He worked for night and day
We all went to private schools
Because he got good pay
We never knew how hard he worked
He rose at 5 a.m.
That we'd have food and shelter
And could be schooled for gain
Both my parents read to us
And gave us the Great Books
We were raised on Dickens
Chaucer and the like
He gave us piano lessons
We knew Beethoven and Bach
Mozart and Vivaldi
And he taught us how to talk
All of my abilities
I owe to that man
And of course my dear Mother
Who schooled us through great pain
So here's to some great parents
Married still it seems
Over 60 years together
I owe to them my genes
I just want to thank them
My dear old dad this day
You worked so hard to school us
So we could find a way
I love you Clinton Jarvis
You made me strong and bold
A dedicated father
At 91 years old!
SoulSurvivor
(C) 6/18/2016
Jun 18, 2016
Jun 18, 2016 at 12:49 PM UTC
i'm moving away soon.
whether this "soon" is a month or years from now,
but i'm moving away.
i've learned to not let other's insight on My future effect me.
my future smells like coffee and it sounds like the sea.
it looks like calm sunsets and feels like fire by the fireplace.
it smells like autumn candles being lit in the spring.
chopin playing as i calmly live day by day.
i'm going to move away.
Oct 10, 2018
Oct 10, 2018 at 2:51 PM UTC
I was born in the United States of America
register as a democrat… but just so I have access
to primary voting.
In this land touted for opportunity and freedoms
mostly, I find myself lamenting the choices
my government makes on my behalf.
I would not purposefully donate six percent
of my daily earnings
on drone bombing civilian Muslims
if it were up to me…
I would generally look to my own neighborhood
and those in the surrounding areas
when deciding where to offer my services and aid
as opposed to installing and maintaining
coup after coup on foreign soil…
Everyone I met who needed medical assistance
would have the ability to speak with a doctor
or at the very least a therapist…
My mind is so weary my body has become tired
watching my nation attempt to maintain empire
while the masses refuse to believe
that concept exists in the 21st century,
but for me, like a dagger in the eyeball
twisted and rusty, its
infecting me constantly with the reality
we are morons….
There is an adage I believe comes from the hillbilly’s
regarding one’s love for a land
and if the lack of that love shows itself,
then the individual must leave said land
well,
I have a second option:
You go………
You go to Iraq and wait for the drones
You go to Okinawa and get ***** by the American military
You go to any of the 600 places not in the United States
harboring military instillations of all types
You sit on the beach at Fukushima
while our advisors watch quietly the Pacific die.
Me, I will stay here
and see what I can learn from any still living
native peoples….
Sep 10, 2015
Sep 10, 2015 at 11:12 AM UTC
The pandemic, that **** inimical plague enveloping our world. So it all started in China, or so they say, yet in what seems to me in a very short time, it has circled Earth. Really, that fast, and everywhere, even Okinawa? Moreover, does it not seem a tad morally "grostesque" that so many look to "profit" from the scourge? This is not the way I want our world to work. "Gee!' many will say. "The more corpses, the more money!" Life, any life, should never be predicated on monied worth. Life is sacred. It is not meant to be financially profitable. The indigenous peoples of Earth for the most part knew intuitively that human lives were not meant to be spent on the 103rd floor of some skyscrapper. They realized that all forms of life on Earth were inextricably intertwined, inter-connected. They realized profoundly that all are one. The way we have sectionalized politically our Earth into arbitary nations (over 200 now) is both ludicrous, as well as illusory. The wind, the waters--even the pandemic--do not recognize borders. The divisions of mankind have resulted, over millennia, in aggrandizement, which has inexorably lead to wars on top of wars on top of even more war. And what happens during wars? Millions and millions and millions of human beings have been murdered, a military pandemic of untold proportions. And what if we wanted to love instead of **** You can't hug someone who is 6-to-10 feet away from you. You can't kiss the one you love with a mask over your face. But phamaceutical giants are all furiously trying to become the first to create a viable vaccine and thus make billions and billions. But that is not love--just the opposite. And what of all the poor human beings on Earth, so many of whom already have contracted the virus, or eventually will--how are they going to be able to pay for the vaccine? The coronavirus is not the only plague circling Earth. Uncaring has been doing the same it seems forever.
Copyright 2020 Tod Howard Hawks
Jul 15, 2020
Jul 15, 2020 at 1:07 PM UTC
First purple page, plagiarizing plums crushed like candy between incisors
First new wave, going right over the reef with aquatic teeth
Wish me luck, tango la suerte y la magica
Listening to the Bosnian adhan, for fun, 2:14am
Stainless steel ice reservoir, killing for a taste of nicotine air
Got sick of chewing my smoke
Not dead broke quite yet, need a haircut and I'm set
It's a bet betting on me, make an investment and see
Tight lines at quarter time, spilling rhyme reasonless
**** your system, digest aggression, **** out plastic
Okinawa brig **** white woman tapped my back give me my shot God ******
Jul 7, 2019
Jul 7, 2019 at 5:17 AM UTC
A slash of a smile, kimono stripped shoulders
Koi scale tattoos, Okinawa rainy day blues
Drown yourself in ***** fight 'till you lose
Pale skinned pathological lover
Soulstone hustler, rustler & bustler
Revolving revolvers under samurai dusters
Wild west Tokyo rose blessed
Handwritten love letters on a desk, kiss sealed
A bowl of cornmeal, these things we steal
A lovelock of hearthsouls, sous chef gazpacho
Tasty cannibal nachos, eating hearts in a palm grove
Children gathered round a stone
The feeling of truly being alone
Making tools from your enemies bones
More brutal than any historical score
We sleep, we snore, 2+2=4, once, no more
Coconuts falling on the shore for eternity
Every blade of grass is holy to me
It's the bullet we see that gets us
We can all love each other is we let us
Balloon powered spaceships, liftoff
Raise your sails on the submarine
Big, square, wheels on your SUV
Life is like a tree, just growing
Forget all your worries, let's just get going
Sep 13, 2017
Sep 13, 2017 at 9:09 PM UTC
Blithely, eagerly I clip clusters of spiky purple, verduous
Okinawa spinach for my lunch
adding in fuzzy bright green leaves of Thai spinach
squatting in the corner of the garden
David, AKA, Farmer Brown has certainly been busy
planting, fertilizing, cultivating a miniature farm
in our backyard
Delicate rain kisses fall lightly on my brow
and Day hides her bonnie blue face
in soft gray veils
Gathering the fresh, vibrant bounty
I feel so very blessed
surprising a garland of yellow finches
sipping water at the bird fountain
whoooosh....
lofty wings of my heart
joins them as they take off
in golden flight
Mar 6, 2019
Mar 6, 2019 at 9:06 PM UTC