Marathon to Mariupol’

I died at Mafeking
I died at Khe Sahn
Do you really care all that much
If I would just carry on
So I fell at Marathon
And at the Angle
Who knew war would ever be
Such a bloody tangle?
Then there’s the Ardenne
The bulge and countless fronts
But Xmas in Germany in Worldly One
Supreme Command doesn’t cotton such stunts
I died in your arms
I died in your eyes
Giving it your all is not
Often all that wise
But then you turn 50
Or sixty if you dare
And it’s not only youth
Lost with one’s hair
Twas born to love you
But arrived this wrong century
Now it’s all tears in the gutter
And so much fiddle dee dee
But back to the honorable dead
And all that attendant filigree
Do you wanna dance and then stay up
And catch the sunrise over the Mississippi sea?
Married, quartered, and drawn
Spinning verses all day long
I love that smile stolen this away
But I never ever would want you to be wrong
Now all Ukraine sobs unheld
All those ‘standing with you’ so very far away
Stille, all those eager Carpathian kinder
Await breathless for a next different new day

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A Horsie of Orange and Blue

Papa come play;
Papa put down your cares today.
Are you really so sad as that?
Did all those days leave you cold and flat?
Papa, tell me no more of that war;
Papa, yes, there are better things in store.
Try not to leave me with your weeping back;
Yes, I see you cry, I see the tears’ crisscross track.
Papa, were they all your friends?
Papa, not all met very bad ends;
Some of you did at last come home—
Some happy, though others are still lost, and roam…
Papa come play;
Papa, look what I drew for you today:
With crayon, a horsie of orange and blue.
O Papa, Mommy and I really love you.
Little Isabelle cradled in her tired Papa’s lap, and one good arm;
Papa pushed out a smile: Father and daughter were now safe and warm.

For Our Veterans: thank you isn’t nearly enough! Bless You!