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On the Bank of the Boog River (22 June, 1941)

On the bank of the Boog  river,
I get a strange sound in the dark.
What is that sound Paul?
Oh!the frogs are making love,
How weird? We are going to attack the red menace,
And they are making love.

I wish I could make love now in this dark,
The grass could become my bed and I can make love with my lover.

But Barborossa will commence soon and
I am the company commandant.
And I can not make love on this riverbank.

The sounds are disturbing me,
But they can not bother me any long.
The Panzer division will come soon.
With the sounds of tanks frogs can not make sound.
Because when the Barborossa  commence the world will hold its breath,
And make no comment.

 
The Barborossa has started,
Thousands of canon guns are shelling to the red border,
Boom!Boom!Boom!
Suddenly, the artillery sounds stop for a moment.
But I still find the sound of frog’s love making.
The world did not hold its breath,
at least not the frogs.
Boom!Boom!Boom!

Author notes

This poem was included in my book Songs of Silence, which was published in February 2006 by Friends Book Corner(Bangladesh). It is also included in the First Lulu edition of Songs of Silence (June 2007).
1.Boog River: The river divided the border between Poland and the erstwhile Soviet Union.
2.The frogs of the Boog River were making love prior to the German attack on the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941 (According to German historian Paul Carell).
3.Barborossa is the code name of the German invasion of the Soviet Union (named after German Emperor Fredrick Barborossa).
4.German leader Adolph Hitler’s own remark about Barborossa(“When the Barborossa will commence the world will hold its breath and make no comment”)

A contest entry

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Comments

1 - 8 of 8
  • snolan
    April 27

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    I enjoyed this poem and it is an interesting change from the traditional WW2 Outlook. I like the idea of looking at it from a German soldier's view. Too often we have made them evil, made them seem more than what they were: scared soldiers following orders. I really enjoyed the humor involved in that first stanza as well. However, I would like to make a quick suggestion, remember that every line doesn't need to begin captialized. It might help to emphasize some of your statements if they didn't appear to be seperated and individualized, but flowing. Just a suggestion.


    Good write.


  • TyrannyForestFairy
    August 12, 2008
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    Beautifully composed. A mixture of terror and humour incorporated into one piece is not very common but a really interesting approach which I enjoed. The repetition of onomatopiea is really good and adds an a dramatic effect reminding me of Wilfred Owen's poetry. Thank you for entering, this was a delight to read.

    ~Emily~ xx


  • daddy joker
    July 8, 2008
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    great write thanks for entering

  • Leaving Today
    July 7, 2007
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    history..duty..different idea..nice write

  • Nicole Hanna
    July 6, 2007
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    The sound of frogs making love is not something I'd generally think to write a poem about, lol, and because of that, I fell in love with the opening stanza. Not to mention the sense of history I got from this piece. I always adore learning something from a poem I've read. Thank you for entering.

1 - 8 of 8