And where do all the soldiers go,
the white stones marching in rank and file,
lined up for parade?
Where did they all land their shot-down airplanes,
thier mined landing craft?
Where did the sunken vessels put into port?
The tattered, repeating lines-
where did they march to?
There are no parade grounds in heaven;
no wars, no barracks, no rainy nights spent on guard duty.
no missing limbs or gassed out eyes or shell rocked smiles.
There is only the canteen,
with a lively piano player,
a girl for every arm and a dance for every hour,
a beer for every fist and a song for every heart,
and an open door,
welcoming them all in.
Author notes
Another World War II poem. A combination of listening to music for my research project on Radio Propaganda and Music and my English class inspired this one.
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 5 of 5
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I really liked your use of imagery. Very expressive adjectives...you painted the picture in my mind. Thanks for sharing.
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I like the idea of it. I think, for the most part it flows well, except the second line of the second stanza, I had to re-read it. I think the problem might be because you rhymed go and rows, it sets the reader up with a certain flow, but then there is a dissonence there when the rest doesn't rhyme...it's like I had to switch gears from rhyming to free-verse.
Also, guard is spelled wrong in your thrid stanza.
But, with some work, I think this poem definitely has potention at being a really good piece!
Cheers!
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Thanks for pointing that out! the line has been changed and guard has been re-spelled. Thanks for the comment!
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This is a good one but also needs work!
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Thanks a lot for reading! Is there anything in particular you think could be better or worse? (You'll find that one liners don't usually work in reviews...) And welcome to the site, from me!
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