PIECES OF WAR/ SONGS OF MANHOOD

TODAY   A   WAR 
Today is not like yesterday or tomorrow. 
The yesterdays are gone forever, 
And tomorrow never comes. 
Today a war rages, and men die. 
Today a baby was born. 
Tomorrow - Will it die? 

 
TO   WAR
 
The ground is scorched, 
The grass is gone, 
The sky a horrid red. 
The air is filled  
With clouds of smoke, 
And many men are dead. 
The cannons roar is heard, 
The screams of men in pain. 
Blood flows free, like waterfalls, 
War, a game, insane.

 
TOMORROW   I   LEAVE
 
Tomorrow I leave for a world within, 
The world I know as mine. 
With mixed emotions of sorrow and love, 
I leave my home's security. 
The tide of life breaks on the shore of time eternal, 
And in the wake of boyhood, a man of strength emerges. 
A man whose duty's clear, to serve his country now, 
And join the ranks of many men,  
Who have breached the gap before him. 
But is manhood attained so easily? 
I ask of you who know. 
And the answer of course, be wait and see, 
For now is your time, to go. 
 


BUNKER   TWENTY-ONE 
 
The rain fell gently on my head. 
If only I'd known what lie ahead. 
We were seven from all over the States. 
Every race and color, and had all known hate. 
Our oldest twenty-one; our youngest eighteen. 
All too young for war it seems. 
They came about one thirty, like devils from Hell. 
Guns spitting white hot lead, 
Now there is six, the youngest is dead. 
"You'll never take twenty-one", we shouted filled with fear; 
We all knew the end was near. 
A loud explosion nearby; 
There was seven, now only five. 
Our guns flashed like lightning, our hearts beat like thunder, 
And they still come, but they'll never take bunker twenty-one. 
Bullets flew 'round us like a swarm of bees. 
Two buddies felt their sting, now only three. 
At bunker twenty-one. 
"Where are the gunships?  My God - help us", our only thoughts. 
I looked around, to the ground, once there was seven, now only one. 
Silence filled the air, and blood drenched my clothes, I was alone. 
Now determined and hoping the enemy would come. 
I'll show them, they won't take twenty-one. 
A flare filled the morning sky. 
""Come on you bastards", I cried. 
But there was no answer. 
I strained to see through the foul smelling mist. 
A figure the size of a young boy; 
He stood among his fallen comrades; tears filling his eyes. 
He had lost all of his friends, as I had mine. 
We stood there looking at each other, with hidden respect. 
Then I shot him through the head, this I'll never regret, 
For a man's compassion is only as strong as the man himself. 
And I had seen so much death, 
What was one more?



A  ROCKET  ATTACK 
 
Like the sound of a wild Banshee they come in. 
Someone yells, "Incoming". 
We head for the trenches. 
The sky turns brighter than day. 
Then the sound of thunder. 
Did anyone get hit? I wonder. 
 
You wait for the next to hit. 
It seems eternity. 
Then it comes, that same angry sound. 
It hits; ripples the ground. 
And you think. 
"My God where will the next one fall?" 
You don't know, you can't see them at all. 
 
That unearthly voice, 
Like the sound of all the dying, 
The agony of all who died. 
Like the screaming of a wild banshee, 
They come again. 
 
"Oh God!" 


SOLDIER'S SONG

Voice:  I am lonely God.
                And so tired.
Chorus: Just a little further son.
                Just a little further on.
Voice:  Home's so far away
                God I got to get home.
                It's time for the harvest,
                And Pa's all alone.
Chorus: Just a little further son.
                Just a little further on.
Voice:  Gee, and there's my girl Lord,
                She's waiting and it's been so long.
Chorus: Just a little further son.
                Just a little further on.
Voice:  Lord, I am so tired;
                I got to close my eyes.
Chorus: Close your eyes then son;
                No need to travel on.

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