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Biggus
11-26-2013, 08:49 AM
RED COATS

The bayonets gleaming
In the sun
The piper’s pipe
The drummers drum
Red Coats forming
Up the square
The sound of battle
Everywhere
Though far outnumbered
In the field
They do not waver
They do not yield
The men
From borough and shire
The thin red line
Of the empire

HMS IOLAIRE

On New Year’s Eve 1918
The Iolaire carried sailors
Veterans of the Great War
Back home to the island of Lewis
But as they approached Stornoway
As the New Year dawned
She struck "The Beasts of Holm"
And sank in the darkness
205 souls perished in the depths
They survived the horrors of war
Only to drown in the waters of home

WHETHER THEY MAY WIN OR LOSE

Whether they may win or lose
Or whether they think its right
Our soldiers don’t get to choose
Which wars that they fight

THE RED DUSTER

The British merchantmen
Fly the “Red Duster”
And you will always see
The red ensign flutter

KUBLAI KHAN’S MONGOL HORDE

Kublai Khan’s Mongol horde
Set Sail In 1274
To conquer Japan
And add it to his empire
But the great deity Raijin
Conjured up a typhoon
And his Divine wind
Destroyed the Khan’s fleet
And saved the Japanese
But in 1281
They sailed again
The largest fleet every assembled
Four thousand ships
Carrying 140000 men
But when they were off the shore
Once again Raijin
Brought the Kamikaze
And scattered the fleet
To the four winds
And thwarted Kublai Khan
And he never tried again

THE RED ENSIGN

The unsung heroes sail
Under The Red Ensign
The telltale flag flown
By British merchantmen

WANDERING WARRIOR

Wandering warrior
Migrating hero of the good
Fights for God and king

THE RED ARMY

The Red Army
Rose from the ashes
Like a phoenix
Rising up from
The brink of defeat
To repel the invader
Pushing the Nazi scourge
Back to Hitler’s backyard
To end one war
And begin another
Colder one

BLUE DANUBE

It was called Blue Danube, which
Doesn’t sound menacing at all
So innocuous for the first operational
Weapon in Britain’s nuclear arsenal

RED BEARD

It was called Red Beard, which
Doesn’t sound menacing at all
So innocuous for the first tactical
Weapon in Britain’s nuclear arsenal

virtuoso
11-27-2013, 11:18 AM
I like your concise descriptions of war. I, also, like the ironic twists that you have intertwined into some of the poems.

Biggus
11-28-2013, 05:19 AM
Thanks Virtuoso

Delta40
11-28-2013, 05:37 AM
Win or LOOSE? Aaargh!

Biggus
11-29-2013, 08:13 AM
Aaargh indeed

dara.cv
11-29-2013, 04:19 PM
You totally captured me in the still brave moment of Red Coats. I love how the fiery phoenix livens into war and lingers inactively in hibernation in the Red Army.

Biggus
11-29-2013, 04:23 PM
Thank you