More Poems and Songs

Well, it's Friday, and instead of posting a poem tonight, I'm cheating by linking to three songs/poems. To be honest, I prefer poems with some depth to them and that's difficult to find when looking for thoughtful anti-war poems. Most anti-war poems express a sentiment and they sometimes forget to keep things in perspective; I might add that in my lifetime I have probably read at least a thousand poems dealing with war and that includes epics.

On the other hand, just keep in mind that many honorable soldiers have sung, read and sometimes written their own versions of anti-war poems and why not? When a war goes on too long and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, songs and poetry are a way of handling the pain and tedium.

Here's one stanza of several that can be found on Sisyphus Shrugged (sung to Johnny Come Marching Home Again):

While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While goin' the road to sweet Athy, hurroo, hurroo
While goin' the road to sweet Athy,
A stick in me hand and a drop in me eye,
A doleful damsel I heard cry,
Johnny I hardly knew ye.

Here's another stanza of a different variation that I suppose is also sung to Johnny Come Marching Home Again, found on Suburban Guerilla:

He’s five feet two and he’s six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He’s all of 31 and he’s only 17
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years

And finally, here's a stanza found on Body and Soul (words and song by Tom Paxton):

I got a letter from L. B. J.
It said this is your lucky day.
It's time to put your khaki trousers on.
Though it may seem very queer
We've got no jobs to give you here
So we are sending you to Viet Nam

I hope people will drop by these sites and read the full versions; I've never been to war but I find many long memories coming back for me.