There is this sadness in my heart
That years ago had its small start
When I was young and chose to be
The backbone of my family.
Though times were hard and cupboards bare
Our crippled world was forced to share
We wasted not nor did we slack
But strove to take our nation back.
Who thought that we would once again
Return to those ” remember when ” ?
Oh Blessed Lord, be with us here
To save us from this clutch of fear !
My heart’s so full I dare not speak
A world so sad, so dark, so bleak
The winds of war doth us surround
The earth begs cleansing all around.
May God in heaven hear our plea
And use His power to set us free !
This day to me is just so real
I can’t explain quite how I feel
My heart so full I think t’will break
There was so very much at stake.
Ten thousand lost upon that shore
Who t’were not seen forevermore
My heart cries out, I cannot bear
The deprivation we did share.
How many dreams were lost that day
How many hopes were snatched away
Oh God above, please hear this plea
Vouchsafe this day of infamy !
Today’s the day we do recall
Our heroes brave who scaled the wall
Their actions all did set us free
They led us on to victory
Remember well how many died
To free us from old Satan’s pride !
The dawn’s slow rolling o’er the hill
The air is tense, silent and still
This scene is quiet, fast asleep
While we’ve this mission we need keep
The world about is tossed amiss
And chaos rules instead of bliss
When will this peace we’re searching for
Arrive at last at our front door ?
Far in the distance I can hear
The sound of all the passing trains
The wail that echoes loud and clear
Repeating its wistful refrains,
Across this world the trains hold court
With language we can’t comprehend
In climates cold or damage fraught
Or crises we don’t understand.
Oh sad the trail of distance brings
To circumstance beyond our reach
It is the sound of dying things
The skill of God will soon impeach !
There was a war long time ago
In places that we did not know
So many years now in our past
Proof of length that memories last.
Both young and old were forced to fight
Across the globe or out of sight
A war that simply parried on
Left none untouched here or beyond.
Now I am old but can recall
Those shadows cast upon my wall
With forgotten names that I’d known
Redemptions’ chance all but unknown.
Oh, someone should research this tale
Ere soon we shall completely fail !
REMEMBERING PEARL HARBOR DAY
There was a man upon the road
Who seemed weighed down by heavy load
With spirits low, his shoulders sagged
And as he walked, his feet they dragged.
Another cause, another place
Perhaps another futile race
Tis sad believing all is lost
His faith and honor are the cost.
Oh Lord above, how can this be
The innocents now deemed guilty
Justice is lost, our nation cries
And all are left with compromise !
Once was a war, the worst we’d had
With consequence both bad and sad
Most of our men who truly tried
Did all they could before they died !
LINCOLN’S ADDRESS TO THE NATION WAS 11/19/1863
My tears are for the many men
Who never will go home again
Like those who pledged to give it all
In battle’s heat as they did fall.
Oh Lord in Heaven hear my plea
They gave their lives for me and Thee
Their sacrifice was far too great
With rewards that arrive too late !
I find that life at best is strange
Though I’m not opting for a change
Nor am I saying that it’s bad
What choices are there to be had ?
It seems to me, we have no say
As lives evolve from day to day
Tis time that we accept the fact
It’s God who pens the final act !
I’ve often wondered why it’s so
That sadness follows where we go
And life is never thought complete
Without these stories of defeat
Or why we rally to the cause
Of infidels and unjust wars
And so the cycle carries on
When will all wars cease and be gone ?
What is this hell that men call war
What is it they are fighting for
They’ve wasted so much blood and gore
We’ve known it all and want no more !
I have been taught my whole life long
To love my God and to be strong
To help my neighbors and my friends
To pray for peace and make amends.
Yet still I find the world I see
Is rife with much hostility
The days grow old, deep in morass
When will some of this anger pass ?
In all our lives we find no peace
When will God grant our soul’s release,
I don’t know how to fight the beast
Help us, oh Lord, make wars to cease !
My heart got lost so long ago
How that occured I cannot know
It was that war, I often think
That took our values to the brink
The young, the old, the in-between
Not one of us escaped the scene
It hollowed out each living thing
And in our lives did chaos bring
We took the test and some did win
Although too many were done in
And there were those, ones that I saw
Who ne’er returned forever more
Oh Lord I wish I could forget,
I haven’t mastered that trick yet !
…………………………………………………….
*( MEMORIES OF WORLD WAR II )
There was a bridge in the Great War
That both sides had been fighting for
So many died in that one fight
From early morn to darkest night
Tis true that they performed their best
Though in the end all failed that test.
They died there by the River Somme
As back and forth all hell did come
Of Brits alone some price to pay
Fifty-eight thousand fell that day
Now this occured lifetimes ago
And none are left who really know
But tell me please if any can
What does this say about a man ?
I’ve often thought how bold are we
To dream aloud of victory
There is a path we all must take
To learn what values are at stake
We strive to be a people free
Oft caught midst chains of tyranny.
As winds of war rage fierce and wild
A challenge to each man or child
We’re wrapt in our leftover tears
And chastened by impending fears.
There is no way to make amends
With God alone to help our friends
Beyond this sight what will we see
Still flying there, old Liberty !
I knew a boy quite long ago
There was a war, he had to go
He was so green, his life was new
How could he guess what he’d go through ?
I did my best, he was my friend
And wrote to him right to the end
How hard is it to turn away
When there is nothing left to say ?
Except you did your extra best
And hoped and prayed bout what came next
The wars will come and wars will go
What is the reason, who can know,
You’ve heard me say these words before
Why must youth die in old mens’ war ?
One cannot know just how I feel
About a war that was so real
There is no way I will forget
All those sad days that haunt me yet
And sometimes when I’m in sleep land
The visions seem too close at hand.
I pray to God we’ll never know
The ugliness that from wars flow
Quite often when I’m at my ease
I beg of God, end all wars please !
The infamy of events gone by
Those scenes of the past that made us cry
The tearful times no one will forget
Sad memories that do haunt us yet
These are the shadows of all we hate
That we’ve learned to fear but much too late.
These agonies fail to go away
Increasing more with each passing day
Oh when, oh when will this madness end
Oh where, oh where does the blame depend
May the Lord above help us find peace
And from this anger grant our release !
The poppy blooms o’er many a grave
Of all the souls that we could not save
Colored red like blood that heroes gave
That our emblem might forever wave !
My heart does flutter with every thought
My throat goes dry and my voice gets caught
And for all the sadness war has brought
You’d think we’d accept that lesson taught.
For the time we’ve left, we must demand
That the world we know need take a stand
And plant red poppies across the land
Reminding all that peace is at hand !
See all the pieces on the ground
What is this image we have found
The damaged parts of each lost soul
All crumpled bare without a goal.
Now where did all of this begin
From far away or quite close in
For this is what a war will do
Tear all apart that once were two
A war is such a vengeful thing
And wears no peace upon its wing !
There was a time quite long ago
When our true colors we did show
And saved this world from tryanny
We helped to set the enslaved free.
Now red was for the blood we shed
So children could sleep safe abed
The blue for truth and honesty
Did aid the weak fight anarchy.
And white for those that died to save
God’s people to escape the grave
How sad that we are forced once more
To fight another ghastly war !
There is this book we all know well
That has so many tales to tell
It’s been around thousands of years
Chock full of joy, promises, tears
They’ve not forgot one single thing
Bout love and lust of prince or king.
It speaks of fear, hate, jealousy
And those who can’t or will not see
Of wisemen, prophets, soldiers too
With visions of our dreams come truth
Life history since time’s begun
There’s nothing new under our sun !
The battleground of Shiloh has fields of missing and of dead
Where many nameless small white crosses lineup from head to head
A place where ten thousand died as through the heart this nation tore
While Shiloh from the bible came with His message, peace not war
And was the home of God’s own ark and His holy covenant
That from the Lord to us our peace and true happiness was sent !
I’d like to think where e’er you are, you hear the bugle’s call
And know we’re missing you from mid-November through next fall
I see you in the twilight just before the even’s pall
It’s with morning sunlight rising I miss you most of all !
I’ve seen the troops in battle dress
They make me proud I must confess
I wish they were but dressing-up
To partake of sweet valour’s cup
Instead of battling someone’s cause
While fighting in these futile wars.
There is no break nor any end
The fracas leaves no untouched friend
There’s no peace found to fill the air
We’ve only distress everywhere.
The saddest part we must accept
We’ve done our job and are bereft !
When I was young and very green
There was not much that I had seen
But now I’ve had my fill of war
I still don’t know what war is for !
There’s World War Two, Korea and
That long Cold War, plus Vietnam
Do you remember Lebanon
In eighty-two that fatal bomb ?
Next came Grenada, Panama
This all before the first Gulf War
With Kuwait, Iraq then after
Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia.
From Kosovo, Afghanistan
That’s how War Two Iraq began
I cannot tell how we got here
The world is small, so full of fear,
But I”ll keep praying, hoping that
Our round world won’t wind up flat !
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Claire V. Bogdanos 