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Poems and Songs
List of Poems
Elegant Caporal 3
Soldiers
Temp l-Luft
Lament (Bell bottom
Trousers) 4
Roads 55
Lest We Forget 6
Valentine
57
Thanks for the Memories -
Luft 65
Flowers of old Belleau 58
On German Rations - Luft
The Sack - Luft
Goddess of
Mercy 41
Bless 'em All 5
Poe’s Raven
59
You will never mind 11
Airman's Lament 9
Social Tragedy 10
"For You
De Var Iss Ofer" 69
Passing Through 12
Ode to a
Paddlefoot 21
Old Man Noah 12
Low is the Sun 14
Endowment 15
Waiting 16
At the Last 17
Mole Story 18
Blue Skies of Exile 19
Roll Call Thoughts 20
Escort of P-38s 23
Time Will Be Set Us Free 44
Ann Bollyn 46
Tell Your Troubles to the
Chaplin 55
Storm 56
Paradise 47
Into the Air Army Air Corps
Into the air pilots true
Into the air Army air Corps
Keep her nose up in the
Blue
Barton R.
(February 1944)
To His Coy Mistress
Had we but world enough,
and time,
This coyness, lady were no
crime.
We would sit down, and
think which way
To walk, and pass our long
love's day.
Thou by the Indian
Ganges'-side
Should'st rubies find: I by
the tide
of Hamber would Complain.
I would Love you ten years
before the Flood,
And you should, if you
please refuse
Till the conversion of the
Jews.
My vegetable love should
grow
Vaster than empires, and
more slow.
An hundred years should go
to praise
Thine eyes, and on thy
forehead gaze:
Two hundred to adore each
breast:
But thirty thousand to the
rest;
An age at least to every
part,
And the last age should
shew your heart.
For, lady, you deserve this
state,
Nor would I love at lower
rate,
But at my back I always
hear
Time's winged chariot
hurrying near.
And yonder all before us
lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be
found;
Nor, in thy marble vault,
shall sound
My echoing song; then worms
shall try
That long-preserved
virginity:
And our quaint honor turn
to dust
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and
private place,
But none, I think, do there
embrace.
Now, therefore, while the
youthful
hue Sits on thy skin like
morning dew,
And while thy willing soul
transpires
At every pore with instant
fires,
Now let us sport us while
we may;
And now, like amorous birds
of prey,
Rather at once our time
devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapt
power.
Let us roll all our
strength and all
Our sweetness up into one
ball,
And tear our pleasures with
rough strife
Through the iron gates of
life.
Thus, though we cannot make
our sun
Stand still, yet we will
make him run.
The Five Reasons for
Drinking:
If all be true I do think
There are five reasons we
should drink.
Good wine-a friend- or
being dry
Or lest we should be by And
by Or any other reason why.
Henry Aldrich
The Kiss
"I saw you take his kissi"
"Tis true."
"O modesty" "It was
strictly kept.
He thought me asleep: at
least, I knew
he thought, I thought he
thought I slept!
Coventry Patmore
TOO BAD Edna Vincent Millay
The heart of man is capable
of
Forty ridiculous kinds of
love,
And the heart of woman is
just an ocean
of jealous, immoderate,
damp devotion.
Clarence Day.
Sir, I admit our general
rule, that every poet is a fool:
But you yourself may serve
to show
That every fool is not a
poet.
Matthew Prior
My candle burns at both
ends;
It will not last the night;
But, oh, my foes,
and oh, my friends
It gives a lovely light.
Longfellow - All things come to him who will but wait. Mrs. Mary Blaize Goldsmith
She strove the neighborhood
to please with manners wondrous winning;
And never followed wicked
ways, unless (Except) when she was sinning.
Love is a nuisance
nowadays. Like a dampened match, you cannot strike.
It bothers my dreams in a
number of ways. But - I like it.
Love is no more than a
fable now. And a can of coffee ranks above it.
It's silly to dream of a
doubtful girl, But - I love it.
Now a cozy bunk and a loaf
of bread, and Nescafe with fluffy cream in
Are better than dreams of a
double bed, But - I go on dreamin.
Frank Stebling P.O.W.
Drink to me only
with those eyes, and I will pledge with mine.
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
and I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth ask a drink
divine.
But might I of Jave's nectar sup, I would not change for thine.
The Little Brown Jug
My wife and I lived all
alone,
in a little log hut we called our home.
She loved gin and I love
rum.
I tell you what we'd lots
of fun
Ha! Ha! Ha! You and me
Little brown jug, don't I
love thee.
Ha! Ha! Ha! You and me
Little brown jug, don't I
love thee.
If I'd a cow that gave such
milk
I'd clothe her in the
finest silk,
I'd feed her of the
choicest hay
And milk her forty times a
day.
My wife and I lived all a
lone
In a little log hut we
called our own
She loved gin and I like
rum
I tell you what we'd lots
of fun
Ha! Ha! Ha! you and me
Little brown jug, don't I
love thee.
Ha! Ha! Ha! You and me, """
If I'd a cow that gave such
milk
I'd clothe her in the
finest silk;
I'd feed her with the
choicest hay,
And milk her forty times a
day.
Clementine
In a cavern, in a canyon,
Excavating for
a mine, Dewelt a miner,
forty niner
and his daughter Clementine!
Light she was and like a
fairy,
and her shoes were number
nine
Herring boxes without
topses
Sandals were for Clementine.
Drove she ducklings to the
water
Every morning just at nine,
Hit her foot against a
splinter
Fell into the foaming brine
Saw her lips above the
water
Blowing bubbles mighty
fine,
But alas! I am no swimmer
So I lost my Clementine.
In my dreams she still doth
haunt me
Robed in garlands soaked in
brine
Though in life I used to
hug her,
Now she's dead I draw the
line.
In the canyon near the
water,
Where the sunlight doth
incline,
There grow posies of red
rosies,
Fertilized by Clementine.
Then the miner,
forty-niner,
Soon began to peak and
pine,
Thought he oughter join his
daughter;
Now he's with his
Clementine.
How I missed her, how I
missed her,
How I missed my Clementine!
But I kissed her little
sister,
And forgot my Clementine.
Oh, my darling, oh my
darling,
Oh, my darling Clementine!
Thou are gone and lost
forever,
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
In your mouth there is a
butterfly and I would like to crush it with my lips.
On your lips there is diving
nectar that I would taste.
The rosebuds that are your
lips are to fragile to be real.
May I touch them with my own.
How much you have missed
being together.
Paddlefoots Song "I'll
be around when you're shot down”.
I guess you know that fellow
who flew a 38
He thought the German Air
Force was only 2nd rate
He tried to shoot a train up
while coming home one day
He didn't see the
Folke-Wulfe and now he's gone away.
The moral of this story as
you can plainly see
If you are going to fly,
they fly from Italy.
For if you're in the big
league, all I've got to say
Your only here a short while
and then you're gone away.
A Fortress was leaving
Calais
Bound for that Limey shore
Heavily laden with petrified
men
Scared and feet on the floor
How many a Heinkel will
never get back
And many a Messersmidt too
They shot off our "buttocks"
Screwed up our hydraulics
But cheer up my lads "bless
'em all
Lest we Forget -
Don Delaura
The hours spent in forced
content
The long awaited "big event"
The written letter that
never appeared
That folks at home had at
last had heard
The sandy soil so easily
blown
The barbed wire fence not
easily flown
The sports field and trodden
path
The weekly showers and
bucket bath
The baseball games and
passing girls
The haired men with feminine
curls
The huge mustache and shaven
head
The solid boards and straw
filled beds
The shuttered windows and
systematic search
The tunnel diggers with mud
besmirched
The "klim" can pasn and
makeshift lamp
The fireless stove when days
were damp
The red cross parcels and
Jerry' rations
The Red cross clothes and
self made fashions
The turnips, cabbage, and
lowly spud
Many times wet and covered
with mud
The marg, jam, cheese and
fish
Which made a rough
untempting dish
I found a paradise when I
found you
I found a land of joy and
hope divine
The lonely hours grew glad,
my tears were gone
Because a world of love at
last was mine
Be ever near my heart
through all the years
O shine on me, clear eyes,
like stars above
My prayer shall be that God
may keep our world
An earthy paradise, a heav'n
of love.
Pull off the wallpaper,
we're going to move
Go get the butcher knife,
baby swallowed a penny
The weighty bread we had to
toast
The "D" ration chocolate we
loved the most
The long sought toothbrush
and awful paste
That rivaled the food in
bitter taste
The modern plays and
concerts, too
The plaques, works of art
anD-Barley glue
The pastern towers and
bright spot lights
That searched the camp
throughout the night
The siren's wail and droning
planes
The flying boats and
whistling trains.
And last but not least the
G.T.O.
Our "Kriegie" friends, every
Tom, Dick & Joe
The Airman’s Lament
A young flyer (aviator was )
lay dying
Under the wreckage he lay
The pilots all gathered
around him
These last dying words he
did say.
From the small of my back
take the crankshaft
The piston rods out of my
brain
The spark plugs out of my
kidney
And assembly (build up) your
fortress again
When the board of inquiry
assembles
Tell them the reason I died
It was a flat spin that
resembled
The maximum angle of glide
Torn from the land that bore
me
Torn from the on that I love
To fly for fame and glory
And die in the skies up
above
Stand by you glasses steady
Here's to the brave men who
fly
A toast to the dead already
And here's to the next man
to die.
The Jack. This is the
sack, the
A Social Tragedy
In Sardinia
Passing thru a victim town
of war
Bombed from the air
I see a soldier
A vanquished foe
Sadly stands before
The ruins of home
Looking dazed, forlorn
At the heaped desolation
there
Perhaps to himself he swears
What animals!
The work the years lost in a
single blow.
Man not even safe from man.
If only I could make him see
That his sorrow
Is my sorrow too;
That we all suffer
In this social tragedy.
(C.J.
Niemiec. 1st Lt) [scratched out]
You Will Never Mind
C'mon and join the Air Corps
It's a grand branch so they
say
You don't do no work at all
Just fly around all day
While others work and study
hard
And so go old & blind. You
take to the air
Without a care and you never
mind
Chorus: you'll never mind
you'll never mind
C'mon & join the Air Corps
And you will never mind
We are a bunch of heathens,
we do not give a snag
For the groundling point of
view, and all that sort of crap
We want about ten thousand
ships of every kind
And then of course our own
Air Force and we
Will never mind - Chorus
C'mon and get promoted. As
high as you desire
You're riding on the gravy
train, when you're an Army flier
And just when you're about
to be a General you will find the
Sky blows up, the wings fall
off.
But you will never mind -
Chorus
You're flying o'er the
ocean, you hear your motors spit.
You see you're prop come to
a stop. The God-dammed engines quit.
The ship can't float & you
can't swim, the sore is miles behind.
Oh! What a dish for the
crabs and fish. But you will never mind.
Chorus
You meet up with a Zero, he
shoots you down in flames
Don't waste your time
a-belly-aching nor call the bugger names
Just push you stick into the
ground and pretty
Soon you'll find there ain't
no hell, & all is well
And you will never mind -
Chorus
You take her up and spin
her, and with an awful tear,
The ship folds up, the wings
fall off.
But you will never mind. For
in about two minutes max
Another pair you'll find and
dance with Pete and the Angels sweet
And you will never mind -
Chorus
Passing Thought
Listen Kriegie still alive
Let your grief diminish
You didn't finish
twenty-five
But you also aren't
finished.
Soldier; somewhere ahead the
road is turning
It isn't but a thousand
dreams to home.
Old Man Noah
Away back in the ages dark
(repeat)
Old man Noah built a sea
going ark (repeat)
Old man Noah had his nervous
spells
When he hat to listen to the
animals yells
But when anything was doing
he was there bells
He was a grand old sailor
Chorus - Old man Noah knew a
thing or two
He made them
all play ball
Some say he
was an also ran
He was the
original sailor man
Old man Noah
knew a thing or two
He was a
grand old man
Said old man Noah to his
wife one day
There's a big storm a'comin
on the first day of May
So he gathered all the
animals and beat it to the Ark.
It's going to rain
to-m-o-r-r-o-w.
The rain came down in
showers prime
The ark took off on schedule
time
And every day at half past
three
Noah played poker with a
chimpanzee.
Cried the ring-tailed
monkey, I sadly grieve
Noah has a full house up his
sleeve.
When Noah got the animals
out to sea
They organized a regular
jubilee
In the middle of the night
the elephant said
There's a couple of snakes
crawled in to my bed
"Shut up" said Noah, "You're
drunk instead"
Now I'm going to xxx my
xxxxx
Low Is the Sun
Low is the Sun, as slowly it
leaves the sky
Low is the Moon as night
draws nigh
So is my heart whenever the
day is thru
Once a day, every day,
evening brings thoughts of you.
Each long shadow whispers
you are lonely too
But my heart keeps saying
don't go back you're there
When in the dark, I sit
around just for xxxx
It's to think of you only,
Endowment
Shall I be lame, because I
am imprisoned.
Shall I be blind, for bars
that split the sun.
Shall I be deaf, because my
ear is pinioned.
Shall I be mute, for musics
that are done?
My eyes are fuller if feet
are captive
My ear is richer in the
silent hour
And strange new senses rise
above my shadow
And suffering bestows a
monstrous power
When I was in the world I
saw no people
When I was in the garden,
smelled no rose.
I listened to the strings
and heard no music.
I kissed warm lips - and yet
my own were froze
I saw the sky, but not the
Eternal
I sniffed the bloom, but did
not smell the seed
I harked to music, hearing
no Jehovah
I felt my wealth, but did
not feel my greed
Now I am banished from the
chant of color
And exiled from the scent of
laughing rime
But, suddenly, I see and
hear beyond me
Life's beauty, rising up for
the first time
Do you think it will work? A
windshield wiper on a pig’s bottom. I'll hit you on the forehead.
Waiting
When you're far away from
the one you love
Stop and gaze at the heaven
above
Whether the time be the sun
scorched noon
Or a frosty night with a
glittering moon
And there above in that
realm of space
I see not the sun or moon
but a face
A beautiful face with a
tender smile
Which tells me she's waiting
to make life worth while
Perhaps tonight from her
window pane
She's gazing aloft, on her
lips my name
As she prays to God way up
above
To watch over, keep safe, &
return that love
So when you're feeling alone
& forlorn
Watch into the night and the
wakening morn
And remember that westward
across the blue
She's watching and waiting,
the same as you.
At the Last!
God, who hears the smallest
cry
That ever rose from human
soul
Be near my mother when she
reads
My name upon the Honor Roll
And when she sees it written
there
Dear Lord, stand to behind
her chair!
Or, if it be thy sacred will
That I may go and stroke her
hand
Just let me say, "I'm living
still!"
And in a brighter better
land
One word from me will cheer
her so
O Lord, if you will let me
go
I know her eyes with tears
will blind
I think I hear her choking
cry
When in the list my name
she'll find
Oh, let me - let me - let me
try
To somehow make her
understand
That it is not so hard to
die!
She's thinking of the thirst
and pain
She's thinking of the
saddest things
She does not know how an
angel came
And led me to the water
springs
She does not know the quiet
piece
That fell upon my heart like
rain.
When something sounded my
release
And something eased the
scorching pain
She does not know, I gladly
went
And am with Death, content,
content.
I want to say I played the
game
I played the game right to
the end
I did not shrink at shot or
flame
But when at last the good
old friend
That some call Death, came
beckoning me
I went with him, quite
willingly!
Just let me tell her - let
me know
It really was not hard to
go!
Mole Story
Eager Terroflieger
Waiting in suspense
Tonight we use the tunnel
Underneath the fence
Luftgangster prankster
Like a common bug
Twenty days on bread and
water
In the German jug
Blue Skies of Exile
Only to the earth am I
imprisoned
There is no fixity about the
sky.
For often upward from the
barbed wire fence gazing
I see a bit of native air
roll by
Breathed and brightened by
the heart I left behind me
And I think the sky has
caught sometimes the very prayers
That you are speaking in
answer to the
Light winged homing thoughts
that I released to Heaven.
Now and then in supplication
that an
Errant star may drop them
off when
In his orbit flying, he
passes next to the garden where you are.
Only to the earth am I
imprisoned
And sometimes when the sky
is special blue
I know that it is the self
same patch of Heaven
That yesterday, sailed
slowly over you.
Roll Call Thoughts
We've stood in the rain the
snow and the sleet
We've stood there for hours
with nothing to eat
And why have stood there
browned off and mad
Because Unter officer Noyes
just couldn't add.
We've dug nice long tunnels
thru miles of sand
Made fancy clothes and hid
in tin cans
But why have we failed to
leave Kriegie-land
Because "Henry the Butcher"
is always on hand.
We don't like the Prison
Camp
So windy and black
And the barking of watchdogs
that bothers our sleep
Oh! Major Von Miller,
please give us a break
And call off you bloodhounds
so we can escape.
Ode to a Paddlefoot
If I were fierce and bald
and short of breath
I'd live with scarlet majors
at the base
And speed young hero's up in
the air to death
You'd see me with my puffy,
petulant face
Guzzling and gulping at the
best hotel
Reading the Roll of Honor
"Poor young chap"
I'd say "I used to know his
father well"
Yes, WE'VE lost heavily in
this last swap
And when the war is done and
youth long dead
I'd toddle safely home and
die - in bed.
An Escort of
P-38s
To You Who Have Had It
Let your memorial be a tall
cloud
Chiseled well by the wind
and weather
Let the lightning streak &
thunder loud
Come storming your
brilliance together
For the air was yours, in
life to trust
And the sky your battle
station
And your last breath was of
Angel Dust
On the high frontier of
Creation
Goddess of Mercy (see
Rusty's book) [sketch of Red Cross]
Goddess of Mercy, in whose
hand
The Charities of Jesus lie
Thy goodness drapes every
land
Though red the trench,
though black the sky
See how we in exile raise
Our grateful eyes in solemn
prayer
To see above the blackish
haze
A sign that brotherhood put
there!
Without thy far-flung
ministry
Our days were longer,
leaner, -- lost,
What angels send us o'er the
sea
The symbol of the crimson
cross?
Draft Dodger
I'm writing this short
letter, and every word is true
Don't look away draft
dodgers, for this is meant for you
You feel at ease and in no
danger, back in the old home town
You cooked up some pitiful
story, and the draft board turned you down
You never think of real men,
who leave their home each day
You only think of their girl
friends, that you try to take while there away
You sit at home and read
your paper, you jump up and yell we'll win
Just where do you get the
"we" stuff, this war will be won by men
What do you draft dodgers
think this free nation would do
If all her men were
slackers, and scared to fight like you?
I guess that's all Mr.
Slacker, I suppose your face is red
America is no place for your
kind, I mean every word I said
I'm closing now, draft
dodger, just remember what I've said
Stay away from my girl, slacker -- Cause I'm far from being dead.
Time Will Set Us Free
oh, fate, you keep your
secrets well
But I cannot say you were
cruel to me
For I am well, I see
But burned faces and empty
sleeves are here
So this is what you meant
for me
How long will it last?
Another one of you cruel
secrets
To be exposed by time
Thousands of forgotten men
Rotting in confinement,
rotting from filth
Bad food and idleness - lean
unshaven and haggard. And we were soldiers, officers, with dreams shattered,
hope extinguished
But spirit yet uncrushed
We'll trust our future to
time, our only friend
For time will set us free
Just A Few
There once was a pilot who
flew a "17"
He dropped his bombs on all
the fields so green
He went out on a mission one
bright December day
He went to happy valley, and
now he's gone away
(see Bell Bottom Trousers)
Ann Bollyn
In the tower of London large as life
The ghost of Ann Bollyn
walks I declare
Now. A.B. was once King
Henry's wife
Until he had his headsman
bob her hair
Oh, yes, he did her wrong
long years ago
And she comes up at night to
tell him so
Chorus
With her head tucked
underneath her arm
She walks the bloody tower
at the midnight hour
She comes to haunt K.H. she
means giving him what for
Gadzooks she's going to tell
him off
For having split her yore
And just in case the
headsman wants to give her
An encore She has her head
tucked under her arm
Sometimes gay K.H. gives a
spread
For all his pals and gals a
ghostly crew
The headsman carves the
joint and cuts the bread
And in comes A.B. to queer
the do
She holds her head up with a
wild war whoop
And Henry says don't drop it
in the soup
Chorus
The sentries think that
it's a football
that she carries in
and when they've had a few
they shout
Is Army going to win
They think that it's Red
Grange instead
Of poor old Ann Bollyn
Chorus
Along the drafty corridors
for miles & miles she goes
She often catches cold poor
thing its cold there when in blows
And it's awfully awkward for
the Queen to blow her nose
With her head tucked
underneath her arm
I found a paradise when I
found you
I found a land of joy & hope
divine
The lonely hours grew glad,
my tears were gone
Because a world of love at
last was mine
Be ever near my heart
through all the years
O shine on me, dear eyes,
like stars above
My prayer shall be that God
may keep our world
An earthly paradise, a
heaven of love.
Tell Your Troubles to
the Chaplain
So, you feel like you been
cheated in the party called a war?
An' you're getting bruised a
little in the grappling?
Well, I'll tell you what to
do - there's an Army nurse for you.
Just go and tell your
troubles to the Chaplain.
Has your marmalade got flies
in it?
Well you'll find him most
obliging
Would you like a ticket?
He's the man to see.
He will meet you like a
brother, he will treat you like a mother
He will bandage up your
thumb and serve you tea.
Sure, oh sure, I know it's
tough, so you think you've had enough
So the Cap'o gonna learn a
thing or two?
Well it's a nasty horrid war
- so just go in that door
An' the Chaplain'll take
tender care of you.
All you gotta do is tell'em
that the Cap'o for ever yellin'
An you got your fill'o duty
on K.P.
Why, he'll take it down in
typin, every symptom of your gripin
An' he'll file it in a
folder carefully
Captive in the foreign
land
It has done me good to be
here
Although at times in arid
longing
To be beyond these guarded
limits,
Rasps in my breast
It was here that I awakened
From youthful sleep of
sheltered ignorance
If I go home a better man
It is because confinement
Has afforded time for
contemplation
To know myself how frail &
human
Here I searched and found a
fulcrum
By which to move and measure
time
It would be a puny charity
If I ignored this forced
retreat
When God has blessed me
here.
Roads
In the read swath of strange
roads never ending
In the long march of alien
ways unreeling
In the dull wait on timeless
pathways yearning
Remembering, I let may
fancies roam
Soldier, somewhere ahead the
road is turning
It isn't but a thousand
dreams to home
Storm
For all my comrades on the
line tonight
I breathe a soldier's prayer
begrudgingly
This billet where there is a
little light
My empty useless shoulder is
contrite
With warmth and life,
although my door be barren
My straw is paradise, but
sleep is hard
With knowledge that I share
not in the plight.
We who are prisoners do not
complain
For we are sheltered from
the stormy spaces
But there are some tonight
who face the rain
And some who don not fell it
on their faces
Oh, what's the use of
shelter overhead
If on my heart I feel the
rains instead
To you who have had it
Let you memorial be a tall
cloud
Chiseled well by the wind
and the weather
Let the lighting streak and
thunder loud
Come storming your
brilliance together
For the air was yours in
life to trust
And the sky your battle
station
And your last breath was of
Angel Dust
On the high frontier of
Creation
Valentine
Life is a valentine you see
Oh, love, you are tormenting
me
The cover is wreathed with
skies of blue
And there in a heart is the
face of you
But our valentine is a
tricky thing
And wary so the wedding ring
And the kiss is hard to
reach
How multi-paged a valentine
This heartless love affair
of mine
I turn long page on page
Any your eyes look through
on every one
Beckoning "soldier - you've
just begun"
Turn on, and earn your wage
I turn and turn
The pages frown as they go
along
The drums drown out a
courting song
With spirit heavy and
thoughts off far
I troop through the
valentine of war
Seeking the eyes of you
An escort of P-38s! [Poe - Raven]
Once upon a Sunday dreary
when of combat I'd grown weary
From the many, many flights
of yore
There came a tap, tap,
tapping, as of someone gently rapping
Rapping at my Bombay door
It was some dirty goon a
rapping
Not only this but plenty
more…
Soon I heard some firing, I
knew what they were desiring
Up above that Bombay door
The MEs were hopping and the
Fulkers were popping
Not only aft but for
"You can go away again, or
you'll get it in the end
this I said a plenty more
I began a hopping as the
shells began popping
Pop, pop, popping at the
Bombay door
The engines started dying
and the plane began a gliding
As I grabbed my chute and
headed for the door
All this and plenty more…
Presently I heard a
screaming or was I only dreaming
As I saw them coming in both
aft and fore
As I gazed at them
uncertain, they said buddy this is curtains
And the firing it became a
frightful bore
All this I know as I left
the escape door
All this and plenty more
When I began to twirl and my
brains began to whirl
I pulled the cord and headed
for the floor
Then I began apraying as
they began a spraying
The air with double 105s
And from the things I was a
thinking, you'd say I'd been a drinkin
As I was fall, fall, falling
to the floor
Not only this but plenty
more…
Now I'm not complaining of
the facts I've been explaining
Of the rap, rap, rapping at
the Bombay door
But if you hear me screaming
as at night I lie a dreaming
Dreaming of the days of yore
Do not divorce me, but just
get up and lock the door
Only this and nothing more.
In the days that have
passed, when the tables were xxxapped
With glasses of Scotch and
Champagne. It's true that sight
Was a thing of delight
intent on feeling no pain.
But no longer the same,
nowadays the game
As we sail to Messina
straits, take your sparkling wine
Every time just make mine an
escort of p-38s
Take your daffodils Byron
the wild flowers, Shelly
Yours is the mirth, friend
Keats.
Just reserve me those Cuties
- American Beauties
As escort of P-38s
Sure we are braver than Hell
On the ground all is well
In the air it's a much
different story
As we sweat out our track
Through fighters and flak
Were willing to split the
glory
Well, they wouldn't reject
us
So heaven protect us
And till all this fighting
abates
Give us courage to fight 'em
And just one small item
An escort of P-38s!
[Can You Take It?] (copied from the wall of a
solitary confinement cell)
It's easy to be nice, boys
When everything's O.K.
It's easy to be cheerful,
When your having things
your way.
But can you hold your head
up
And take it on the chin.
When your heart is breaking
And you feel like giving
in?
It was easy back in England,
Among the friends and
folks.
But now you miss the
friendly hand,
The joys, and songs, and
jokes.
The road ahead is stormy.
And unless you're strong
in mind,
You'll find it isn't long
before
You're dragging far
behind.
You've got to climb the
hill, boys;
It's no use turning back.
There's only one way home,
boys,
And it's off the beaten
track.
Remember you're American,
And when you reach the
crest,
You'll see a valley cool and
green,
Our country at its best.
You know there is a saying
That sunshine follows
rain,
And sure enough you'll
realize
That joy will follow pain.
Let courage be your
password,
Make fortitude your guide;
And then instead of
grousing,
Just remember those who
died.
Thanks for the Memories
Thanks for the memories, of
flights to Germany
Across the Northern Sea,
with blazing guns
We fought the Hun, for air
supremacy.
How lucky we were!
Thanks for the memories, of
Me-109's
And Flak guns on the Rhine
They did their bit and we
were hit
So ended our good times...we
miss them so much!
We drifted far out of
formation
We jumped-and what a
sensation
And now we sweat out the
duration
Our job is done, we had our
fun.
So thanks for the memory
Of days we had to stay, at
Stalag Luft 1A
The cabbage raw which had to
do
Till Red Cross Parcels came
How thankful we were.
So thanks for the memory
When "D" Day came along
We changed our marching song
From "Forever and a Day" to
"War ain't Here to Stay"
We thank God for that!
Copy Prelude - Ax's page
1
One cold December morning
The planes began to roar
Into the cold blue yonder
They were going forth to War
The target, it was Bremen
Where flak is bound to burst
But the old man's terror
fleigers'
Were out to do their worst
We were flying over Bremen
When Jerry laid his trap
The old man took his tin hat
And laid it in his lap
The bombardier was sweating
His sight was synchronized
He crouched there breathing
hard
Waiting for the flak to rise
No matter, son, how brave
you are
No matter, lad, how bold, a
fliers big ambition
Is to die from growing old.
And when the flak is mighty
thick
And fighters by you pass.
The place a man would like
to be
Is back home on his A__.
Prophecy
Await us and we will return
Await us when the gray rain
makes you sad
Await us when those who wait
for others have ceased to wait
Await me and I shall cheat
this death and return
Time sought to strike the
luster from my eyes
Death grappled long to grab
me in his hands
Fate streaked with red the
faith of my blue skies
And I have met ordeal at
every hand
But worn heart we have won
the homing seas
Our love was, after all more
strong than these.
New Years Eve
Silence you barbed wire
Yankees
And I'll try to tell you how
The 305th out of England
Made good a solemn vow
It seems the bombs of
previous raids
Including some pretty tough
flights
Had not always been on the
target
So the brass hats sitting in
London Town
Decided we must do better
They told our Colonel as
much, by way of a caustic letter
Sent us to a target in
France far beyond Nance
Twas and airport in Cognac
that day
For hours we flew while
everyone knew
As we thundered on in
formation
Our Colonel was right -
twould be a tough fight
But we all felt that winning
sensation
Down thru the Bay of Biscay
we soared
Turned in towards land at
Bordeaux
Then thru the din of the
engines roar.
Heard "Fighters as six
o'clock low"
We beat them off, but not
without loss
Don't ever sell Jerry short,
The forts that
Caught Hell, that New Years
Eve, were the ones that tried
Then thru the smoke and a
wall of flak
The target at last was seen,
and one of the
Reasons we didn't get back,
was because of
That flacky back screen.
Down thru the
Valley of shells we rode,
each man with a prayer
On his lips, each pilot
fighting to hold his place
In that fighting flight of
ships. Our lead ship
Blazing a trail of flame, to
badly hit flew
Onward on perfect straight
arrow course. The rest is a
Nightmare of fire and guns.
Our load dropped from
The racks and tons of death
blew the target away.
We wheeled and headed toward
England. Many
Hundreds of miles away. We
knew that Jerry had
Paid the price. But by Jerry
we had "been had"
Not a ship reached home that
night,
And you all know the rest now.
Yes, the 305th out of
England had fulfilled it's solemn vow.
FOR YOU DER VAR IST OVER
When your bombs are gone
And the course your on
Promises a view of Dover
You'll get a surprise
When you realize
"For You Der Var ist Over"
When you chute slaps your
back
With a jerk and a smack
As you light on the verdant
clover
You feel with dismay
That starting this day
"For You Der Var ist Over"
As you march thru town
With an uneasy frown
Cause the guard has folks in
Hanover
You get the idea
That in this area
"For You Der Var Ist Over"
When the harmless Flak
Breaks your "Libs" back
No longer a skyward rover
And your hearing them say
In their guttural way
"For You Der Var ist Over"
Then when your a Kriegie
And no longer free
When you would like to be a
rover
You look for the date
When they will open the gate
And the damn Var ist Really
Over.
In your mouth there is a
butterfly and I would like to crush it with my lips.
On your lips there is diving
nectar that I would taste.
The rosebuds that are your
lips are to fragile to be real. May I touch them with my own.
How much you have missed
being together.
Benvenuto Cellini - "I would
swim thru rivers of blood to come to you, even though it were but to die at your
feet"
"Sentimental Tommy" -
James M. Barrie "Somehow you are different from other women"
Madam Recamier - said "So
soon" to departing guests.
Bullion cubes with bits of
bread for gravy on the spuds.
Tell Your Troubles to
the Chaplain
So, you feel like you been
cheated in the party called a war?
An' you're getting bruised a
little in the grappling?
Well, I'll tell you what to
do - there's an Army nurse for you.
Just go and tell your
troubles to the Chaplain.
Has your marmalade got flies
in it?
Well you'll find him most
obliging
Would you like a ticket?
He's the man to see.
He will meet you like a
brother, he will treat you like a mother
He will bandage up your
thumb and serve you tea.
Sure, oh sure, I know it's
tough, so you think you've had enough
So the Cap'o gonna learn a
thing or two?
Well it's a nasty horrid war
- so just go in that door
An' the Chaplain'll take
tender care of you.
All you gotta do is tell'em
that the Cap'o for ever yellin'
An you got your fill'o duty
on K.P.
Why, he'll take it down in
typin, every symptom of your gripin
An' he'll file it in a
folder carefully
Captive in the foreign
land
Once upon a Sunday dreary
when of combat I'd grown weary
From the many, many flights
of youre
There came a tap, tap,
tapping, as of someone gently rapping
Rapping at my Bombay door
It was some dirty goon a
rapping
Not only this but plenty
more…
Soon I heard some firing, I
knew what they were desiring
Up above that Bombay door
The MEs were hopping and the
Fulkers were popping
Not only aft but fore
"You can go away again, or
you'll get it in the end
this I said a plenty more
I began a hopping as the
shells began popping
Pop, pop, popping at the
Bombay door
The engines started dying
and the plane began a gliding
As I grabbed my chute and
headed for the door
All this and plenty more…
Presently I heard a
screaming or was I only dreaming
As I saw them coming in both
aft and fore
As I gazed at them
uncertain, they said buddy this is curtains
And the firing it became a
frightful bore
All this I know as I left
the escape door
All this and plenty more
Benvenuto Cellini - "I would
swim thru rivers of blood to come to you, even though it were but to die at your
feet"
"Sentimental Tommy" -
James M. Barrie - "Somehow you are different from other women"
Madam Recamier - said "So
soon" to departing guests.
Continue Journal: 1943 - 1944- 1945 - Books Read - Business Study