Generations

It’s hard to speak of how it was
I heard my father say
I didn’t understand it then
I understand today

He saw Tarawa and Iwo
Fought at Okinawa too
And often he'd sit quiet
Thinking of those times he knew

Sometimes after too much scotch
He’d get that certain look
And speak in very measured tones
With a voice that often shook

He spoke about the good times
His shipmates and the sea
Never spoke of all the battles
Always kept that part from me

But when I came home from the war
My eyes told him I knew
So we both sat drinking scotch
‘Cause there was nothing else to do


Delta Blue

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JPTA56,

Nice poem Delta Blue.

I'm Just an old retiree,sitting here at home
and I look back on all the times my family
left alone.
So i know just what our TROOPS are going
through and there families too
Because I often left behind
the best ones I ever knew.
But I look back at what I did and I will
not regret
the very thing that made this that way
PROTECTING THE GOOD OLD U.S.OF A.......
"BLESS OUR TROOPS WHERE-EVER THEY MAY BE"

The Promise

He said I’ve done the best I can
Then turned to walk away
It’s up to you how far you go
I’ve shown you all the way

It’s not an easy road to walk
It’s only for the strong
I’ll always be there in your heart
To help you carry on

So do not fear this journey
Don’t lose your faith in me
And I will lead you home to peace
And give you victory


Delta Blue

Soldier

He has stood the line with brothers
And has kept the faith with you
He has fought and bled in battle
With the people that he knew

And in that rite of passage
That was seared into his soul
He was witness to their sacrifice
And a witness to their toll

Too far from home, this soldier
Too far from home I say
Too far from home, this soldier
Who carries on each day

So distant now his homeland
So long upon his road
So dark the dancing shadows
So heavy now his load

Too much to ask, I grant you
Too much to ask, indeed
But he’ll always answer country’s call
For he understands the need


Delta Blue

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JPTA56,

Foolish Dreamer

I'm a foolish dreamer
And I dream of foolish things
Like waves that beat upon the shore
The sound that laughter brings

I’ll always be a dreamer
Of so many dreams from youth
Before such things as knowledge
Before such things as truth

And though my dreams have not come true
I foolishly dream on
For I’m a foolish dreamer
And I’ll dream until I’m gone


Delta Blue

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JPTA56,

Among The Ruins


Among the ruins there is found

Those victims of the shattered ground

Among the ruins, none can see

What’s happened inside you and me


Among the ruins, mans disdain

For those who struggle to sustain

Among the ruins, hope departs

For it can’t live outside our hearts


Among the ruins live the least

Ignored while others sit and feast

Among the ruins lies the test

Of what we do upon this quest


Delta Blue

House Of Many Rooms

Inside this house of many rooms
For those who choose to see
From dark to light, from wrong to right
Those rooms all live in me

No different from another
As we all have rooms to keep
And those that we keep locked
So they won’t open in our sleep

There’s a room that leaves the light on
There’s a room that loves the dark
There’s a room that heals my spirit
There’s a room that leaves a mark

I wish my locks were stronger
As the dark rooms I pass by
For often they will open
With the same old question ‘why’

Why can’t we love each other
Why do we lust for hate
Why don’t we finally wake up
‘Cause it’s getting kinda late


Delta Blue

Mr. Mortar



Walkin’, talkin’ Mr. Mortar

Bringing us steel rain

As you seek us out

With just one mission now, our pain



We have met too often

As you came for us at night

Stomping through our house

As you start up another fight



Sitting in a bunker

Hoping you will pass us by

They say you never hear the one

That comes to help you die



Sometimes just harassing fire

And sometimes mean and rough

I tell you when it’s raining steel

This kid ain’t all that tough



Delta Blue

Her Eyes

The magic in her
Eyes at play
Are how I keep the world at bay

She takes my breath
Oh yes indeed
But that’s the way of passions plead

Her softly shaded
Eyes demure.
Still lead me to those thoughts impure

Indeed they led
To my demise
That magic found inside her eyes


Delta Blue—The Silence

PBR.....patol boat...river


The PBR

We were getting ready for patrol
When the PBR came in
It idled in alone at dusk
Didn’t know where it had been

They came in easy to the dock
And tied up to the pier
The crew got off so slowly
We weren’t close enough to hear

They laid three bodies gently down
Upon the pier that night
And not a word was spoken
As we stood there in their sight

An ambulance backed down the dock
To where they stood alone
And quietly they loaded them
These friends we’d never known

The PBR cast off it’s lines
The ‘wagon’ drove away
Just another cold reminder
On a Mekong Delta day



Delta Blue

A Lovely Day


I got caught up in your rising
I got caught up in your shine
I was certain in this light
That everything would turn out fine

I don’t know just why you do it
Every day you rescue me
You help me keep my focus
As I use your light to see

Don’t know the words to thank you
But indeed you are my heart
You know how much I need you
When I start to come apart

So I got lost again this morning
Deep inside your joyous glow
If today should be my last day
It’s a lovely day to go


Delta Blue—The Silence

2/9/2007

Angel

Didn’t know just how to tell you
That I’d walked a darker way
Was afraid that I would hurt you
With the words that I would say

Still you were most insistent
That I tell you of that fight
For you were more than willing
To stand by me thru the night

Like fists, my words they hurt you
Like an angel you held on
Though in the dark I trembled
It was you who were so strong

I screamed out every nightmare
And you did not back away
And when I held you in my arms
You kept that world at bay

I was down there on my knees
Just asking help from up above
When you found me there, in disrepair
And filled me with your love


Delta Blue—The Silence

Angst

I’ve seen the soul of man defined
By all the roads that he’s declined
I’ve seen the beast too well concealed
Until in hate he is revealed

Such anger found inside of man
Don’t think I’ll ever understand
Why we let darkness rule our heart
And try to tear this world apart

I question everyday this fate
That man must face because of hate
A state that always will insist
We close our minds, and then our fist

So easy just to lose your mind
And let your hate be ‘life’ declined
For we won’t bow to Him above
And surrender here and now to love


Delta Blue

Babbling

I am not afraid to face
Those days that testify
For there are things inside of me
I know I must defy

Inside of me a conflict
Of too many days unkind
That try to take my spirit,
That try to rule my mind

I am still a hostage
To the anger of my past
As it became a part of me
That day the die was cast

I remain a prisoner
To the passion of my youth
And still forever humbled
By the consequence of truth

How much further, on this journey
Must I carry times before?
And will you ever understand
What I was fighting for


Delta Blue—The Silence

Bad Vision


I have come to grips with all
That I will never be
But I have not made peace with all
That I will never see

I will never see a world
That learns to love, not hate
And I will never see this world
Consider such a fate

I will never see a world
That hears the people’s plead
Or live to see the day
When no more soldiers have to bleed

Still as I am passing
There’s a hope that lives in me
That someday you will find that world
That I will never see


Delta Blue—The Silence

Bitter Brother

Consoling him we could not
For there were no words to say
The battleground was silent
But his pain would always stay

He gazed down at his brother
As he held his hand so tight
No matter what he did this day
He could not make this right

He raged against the wrong of it
This fall so far from grace
For all he’d ever asked of God
Was to take his brothers place

Oh bitter brother let him go
This burden don’t prolong
He will always live inside your heart
And he knows you must go on

So many gone, so very long
And always we’ll regret
For in that hell, too many fell
But he could not forget


Delta Blue—The Silence

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JPTA56,

Boozer

A friend asked me how long it’s been
In my new sobriety
I said it’s been 5 years now
Since I lost my sanity

Played hide and seek a long time
With my booze a trusty aide
But I’m learning at the end
Just how extreme the price I paid

It always had a way of
Turning off those things inside
But there’s a price you pay
When you give in to ‘run and hide’

Lost far too many years
In my attempt to make it cease
There’s no answer in the bottle
If indeed you search for peace

Delta Blue--The Silence

Bushy Tailed Bandit


There’s a devil with a bushy tail
That lives next door to me
He’s a crafty little sucker
Who also thinks he owns my tree

The birds call him a bandit
‘Cause he likes to eat their chow
And after every visit
I could swear he takes a bow

He’s got Robins getting’ all riled up
The Finch’s in a funk
And I swear I heard a Mockingbird
Call him a ‘ long tailed punk’

Oh how I love to watch him
As he mocks me every day
I know that all he’s asking is
Can I come out and play

Delta Blue

Congress


What will we be afraid of
Upon this day so clear
We know the state will tell us
Just exactly what to fear

They’ll conjure up some crisis
That is here or far away
So we’ll stay out of focus
To what they do each day

Just like some bottom feeders
Who always move just out of sight
Unnoticed while they’re feasting
Upon both Left and Right

Still, sad to see the slaughter
As they gather in their greed
Consuming all the ‘Givers’
Oh just watch those ‘Takers’ feed


Delta Blue