There are those sounds heard in the fog
That to my mind do give a jog
Returning me to the high cliffs
O’erlooking down upon the ships
When youth did rule my growing years
As World War Two increased my fears.
I heard the buoys’ bells awake
Midst all the noises shipyards make
The fog was thick, the air intense
While all around signs of defense.
It was that time too many knew
When all our hopes seemed overdue
Though in the end our loss was great
Peace came at last and not too late !
On the cliffs above that sandy beach
Learn a lesson only sight can teach
It’s a vast stretch of a foreign land
That belongs to us, in our command
And each time I’m there my heart does cry
For buried men who cannot reply.
Ten thousand erect markers still stand
So faraway from their own homeland
On American soil by that beach
That’s as far as they would ever reach !
Oh those men who took the hill that day
In a foreign land so far away,
Too many died as they gained the beach
A thousand drowned weighted in the breach.
Who knew what strengths would fill all these men
When courage chose to inspire again
And charge the hill filled with fire and brim
Like hell’s front gate at volcano rim ?
While the memories still haunt their nights
With death’s dark vision midst blinding lights,
What’s wrong with this world in which we live
When is time ripe to learn to forgive ?
There was a boy twas just a youth
Who in his life did honor truth
Integrity was his true bag
He loved his country and its flag.
They told him he was needed so
It’s off to war that he must go
And there was he, he went to war
He’d never held a gun before.
Since neither kith nor kin had he
The service was his family
His honor served him through those years
He did his duty without fears.
In one last charge as lives were lost
These men all shared the final cost
Broken bones in a tomb of stone
Engraved thereon one word, unknown !
The name was Cemetery Hill
Its victims’ cries do echo still
Where fifty thousand was the cost
Of dead and wounded and those lost.
The men that fought that long hot day
They had no chance to getaway
While blood they shed covered the ground
There was no hero to be found.
A war is such an ugly curse
I can’t believe there is much worse !
Oh for the days of auld lang syne
And friends we’ve lost or cannot find
We knew such joy and made great plans
The dreams we shared traversed all spans.
Though others fell beside the way
We managed to get through each day
But truth to tell it’s not the same
Sometimes I can’t recall a name.
I see the face and note the scent
I don’t remember where it went
There is a void left in my heart
This empty space since your depart !
I miss you Mom it’s been so long
All through the years our bond was strong
Though you’ve been gone for quite a while
I still remember your sweet smile
And all the love you gave to me
When times were dark your torch was free.
Thanks for your help in those bleak days
Together while those boys were raised
You always shared that wise advice
You taught me how to compromise
I’m glad that I was there for you
Now you are gone, what shall I do ?
The drums are throbbing, hear the sound
There is no silence to be found
With victims sobbing loud and strong
How do agressors still prolong ?
There is great danger in the air
The wolves have left their secret lair
They lie in wait with coats now shorn
Disguised with sheeplike woolen worn.
Oh sad the lies that we all hear
With foment manufactured near,
Proponents of “egality”
What happened to equality ?
A gasp, a sigh, some sign of life
Those battle scars after the strife
A dusty road strewn with debris
A shattered world is left to see
The sadness lingers on it seems
The vanquished have forgot their dreams !
EXCUSE ME but next week will mark the 101st anniversary of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophia’s assassination June 28, 1914, the day the world as we knew it died ! Â Who thought this long simmering catastrophe had its beginnings in interreligious wars between Muslims and Christians ? Â Not I, said the duck ! Â Not I, said the turkey ! Â What I find confounding is we have here a situation existing not 100 years but 1300 years of which most of us are not cognizant ! Â So I ask why ? Â Certainly a distinctive lack of coherence and understanding. Â What is the problem with the world’s educational system so as to leave at least 7 billion inhabitants in darkness ? Â I am beside myself in my frustration and 7 billion pairs of deaf ears, veiled eyes and ignorance doesn’t make me feel any better ! Â How about you ? Â Is all this chaos for nought with total annihilation as the only answer left ? Â Who is there to tell the world GET REAL ! Â Â Â Â Â Â Sincerely, Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Claire B.
A man who walked with God was he
A profile of integrity
A man of honor who chose love
To please his Father there above
A man who died to save us all
From Satan’s might and last roll call !
When I was small I had this toy
Of cotton cloth, it was a boy
And when I went to bed at night
I’d hug my Sammy oh so tight.
He wore long overalls of blue
His shirt was striped with pockets too
Brown hair had he of woolen yarn
His eyes were closed, his mouth a yawn.
I Â loved my Sam with sleepy eyes
My daddy won this grand surprise
One summer night twas after dark
In Palisades Amusement Park.
They’d spin a wheel around and round
And when it stopped the number found
Could win a prize but mostly lost
Just one thin dime was all it cost.
Sam lived with me many a year
He was my friend and brought me cheer
But after daddy went and died
Perhaps Sam ran away to hide.
I never found him after that
Of course we moved to a new flat
I’ve often hoped that he did find
Another child to treat him kind !
Love cannot be life’s everything
It’s faith and hope and blossoming
It’s dreams and plans and mystery
Our spring and fall, our destiny !
It is the total of the scene
On this huge stage that’s in-between
Our days of nascence and demise
That learn to live with compromise !
I have seen the Magic Mountain
And embraced its snowy peaks
I have washed in Trevi’s Fountain
And have strolled her busy streets.
I have eaten in the Plaza
Where Bernadette met her Saint
And meandered through the vista
Where Monet did sit and paint.
I have been to London’s Tower
Where Anne Boleyn lost her head
And tred the hills of Gettysburg
Where fields are full of the dead.
I stood and watched the eastern sky
When the Challenger came down
And since that day I’ve wondered why
I still tremble with that sound.
But most of all I remember
Back when I was still a child
The seventh day of December
When all of the world went wild !
There is no honor in a war
That is not what the battle’s for
We fight to gain a victory
To bring us peace and set us free !
The sun doth rise the day begins
Who makes the choice of loss and wins
The battle wages on it seems
And opts between nightmares or dreams.
The air is clear it makes no sound
A world of silence circles round
How still it is with bated breath
One listens for the knell of death,
It enters like a nighttime thief
And brings to some welcome relief !
At times I wonder why it’s so
The ones we love must come and go
But ever live within our hearts
We miss them all as each departs.
I understand the reason why
The pain of loss gives cause to cry
Remaining still devout with care
Although they are no longer there.
Somehow we learn to be quite strong
To keep our tears where they belong
And paste a smile upon our face
Remembering that last embrace !
I’d like to think that we were friends
But that’s not where the story ends
We shared great times along the way
The path was straight, we did not stray.
When we were young each fell in love
What was it we were dreaming of
Our hearts were true and pure somehow
But things are not so simple now !
That golden hair has turned to white
With little will left here to fight
Mementos that we meant to keep
Got lost in some discarded heap,
The times long gone of used to be
Our friendship found eternity !
I wish I were an hour glass
That holds the precious sand of time
Then I’d control the way days pass
And that would be my wish sublime !
I’d find a way to slow the sand
So time cannot just slip away
And it will seem alright and grand
For us to share this one last day !
The men who die to keep us free
And give their lives for victory,
They’ll never see the war’s ending
Or hear the peal of freedom ring !
They sacrifice all that could be
Without a thought or guarantee,
There was a chance they knew darn well
They could be caught and sent to hell !
Some would survive another day
While others meant to turn away,
How sad that their reward is small
For death in war rates no recall !
I like to watch the daylight bloom
Its rays illuminate my room
For who is there bathed in the mist
Upon the walls that moonlight kissed ?
The thought that love will melt away
Beyond the veils of yesterday
While those who tame the heart and mind
Truly believe love is unkind !
There are no rules, no precedent
To help us learn to circumvent
Life’s simple foils or great mistake
None can afford the last heartbreak !
These prayers are for those sad of heart
With grief for they who sudden part
Each hero’s death too high a cost
Who guides their way among our lost ?
While heroes live in memory
Such memories are never free
Their price is great who knows how much
What tears we shed or hearts we touch ?
When will this sacrifice be done
How long before the battle’s won
Ask God, please help our treasures save
How many more must greet the grave ?
The battle raged, the bullets fell
One thought it was the bowels of hell
When it was done the silence came
And those who could, called out God’s name.
But if He heard, they never knew
Of many there were but a few
Who straggled out that fateful day
And met their death along the way.
This nation which faced great defeat
Lost skirmishes that would repeat,
But in the end she did avail
Avowing that we’d never fail !
There was a child so long ago
Born in a manger, cold and low
That gentle child became the man
To carry out God’s master plan.
I wish I had been there that day
When He was born so far away
To celebrate that happening
The birth of our beloved King !
I am so sad I’ve lost a friend
Much too soon for ones life to end,
Seems time had only just begun
Replete with love and joy and fun,
And now to bid this last goodbye
Ere the angels teach her to fly !
What shall we do
When winter calls
And those we knew
Leave empty halls ?
Secure the door
We’ve wandered thru
They’ll tred no more
Within our view.
The place they’re bound
Is far away
It can’t be found
No, not today.
We’ll need a break
And patience there
It may just take
A special prayer.
The madness of war in which great battles were waged
Where brave men fought and died as their armies engaged
And those heroes who lived to the end of the day
Will fairly attest we need an alternate way.
But wars aren’t parried between equals as we
It’s usually twixt the enslaved and the free
Their combat continues while insanity reigns
Perhaps with our prayers we can salvage remains.
I’ll speak of death reluctantly as my old friend
Who seems to grasp farewell and hold on to the end
This silent one whom I have grown accustomed to
Is now my close companion ’til my life is through.
We have spent  so much time in near proximity
I oft forget he’s there and is my enemy
I cannot quite recall the instant that we met
A sad time and dark place I’d hoped I could forget.
To realize that life can be so full of woe
Be quick to learn there is ought other space to go
The time has dwindled down to greet the end of days
When each of us must choose the path that goes or stays.
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Claire V. Bogdanos 