I need a patriotic poem for a friend in Iraq who is doubting what he is doing there - can anyone help me?
602497
The Final Inspection\n\nThe soldier stood and faced his God,\nWhich must always come to pass;\nHe hoped his shoes were shining bright,\nJust as brightly as his brass. \n\n"Step forward now, soldier,\nHow shall I deal with you?\nHave you turned the other cheek?\nTo my church have you been true?"\n\nThe soldier squared his shoulders and said,\n"No, Lord, I guess I ain't;\nBecause those of us who carry guns,\nCan't always be a saint.\n\nI've had to work most Sundays,\nAnd at times my talk was rough;\nI've had to break your rules my Lord,\nBecause the world is awfully tough.\n\nBut, I never took a thing\nThat wasn't mine to keep;\nThough I worked a lot of overtime,\nWhen the bills got just too steep.\n\nAnd I never passed a cry for help,\nThough at times I shook with fear;\nAnd sometimes ... God forgive me,\nI've wept unmanly tears.\n\nI know I don't deserve a place\nAmong the people here;\nThey never wanted me around,\nExcept to calm their fears.\n\nIf you've a place for me here, Lord,\nIt needn't be so grand;\nI never expected or had too much,\nBut if you don't, I'll understand."\n\nThere was a silence all around the throne,\nWhere the saints often trod;\nAs the soldier waited quietly,\nFor the judgment of his God.\n\n"Step forward now, soldier,\nYou've borne your burdens well;\nCome walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,\nYou've done your time in HELL!"\n~ Author Unknown ~
551434
Hello, Kaleb,\n\nI was and am an English teacher. \n\nYou can start with the poem's theme. If it is about love or nature or whatever, what does it say? How does it make you feel? Does the author choose words that are happy or depressing (mood)?\n\nYou can talk about word choices, length and, if you know something of the author, you can take that approach. \n\nHere's an example:\n\nMy Beard (Shel Silverstein)\n\nMy beard grows to my toes\nI never wears no clothes\nI wraps my beard around my bare\nand down the road I goes.\n\nWhat is Silverstein doing here? He gives you an image (a naked man with a long beard) and creates humor. His words are simple as if the man is not educated. The poem is short, cute and simple--ideal for kids or those of us who love to laugh! Silverstein wrote songs, poems and all kinds of things and was a very private man. Maybe the "beard" of the speaker is Silverstein seeking privacy.\n\nThis is a short example. I wish you luck.\n\nFor further assistance, you can try owlenglish@purdue.edu. Not sure if the url is right, but I hope you get your paper done.\n\nGambatte (good luck)from Japan!
603073
sorry, i searched poetry sites,quotation sites, by author,firstlines,subject. best i can think of is contact nearest university library or professor of lit. wish you luck, it sounds like a really heartfelt poem. sure wish i knew it.
1108476
poems of different country(epics) man i need to pay attention in Reading Class a little more
181653
for amateur poetry try eliteskills.com\n\nfor quotes try \nhttp://www.quotationspage.com/
669951
Possibly .. I mean, here we have a solider who is going into a battle front and he may/may not be wounded, shot down, captured, all of the above, I personally want to thank him for defending our freedom's but as you can see this might have a "unfortunate" outcome. It is nice that you found someone that admires you and you him, just keep in mind of the possibilities that await you and all of the other families that have loved ones in Iraq right now. I don't want to tell you this is wrong or try to "throw salt" on the game in any way. BY ALL MEANS keep in touch with him he will need the correspondence, and if you "solider boy" make it back home, take some time to thank him properly.
732708
Awesome poem! I like the way it flows, and how you put feeling into the poem. Kick-A**-Tic. Let me know if you write any more. ROCK ON!!
628174
make him something cute and manly out of the ruined items you can find in the iraqi streets, making something good out of something evil. maybe you can find a broken mirror and some wood and cloth to decorate it with.\n\nan email from family from home or grade school.  a huge cakew/ empty shells for candles.\n\na chorus line of soldiers dancing in drag!
283479
Hey Haritha...Bush did visit Iraq!, that was his gift to the soldiers-what a morale booster that was! Seriously, when my brother was over there, we sent him the most outrageous, over the top-fall off your chair laughing, funniest cards we could find.I sent him a Chia Pet-you know those funny terra-cotta faced plant holders, with the 'fro-ish alfalfa-sprouty sort of stuff growing where the hair should be?! I sent him a boxed DVD set of ALF, a series that we used to watch together as kids and laugh over.In an environment where there is constant danger and trauma-the best medicine-besides prayers-send them those too!, is laughter.Sometimes laughter is what keeps these men and women from going over the edge from stress and anxiety.I also sent him lots of one-liners via email.  I knew he didn't have a lot of time to read-so I kept it short,but that let him know I was thinking about him and remembering the fun times.
693618
When I made the decision to serve my country, it was not because I was forced or coerced into it.  I made the decision to serve, because I saw something of value in this 'Nation of Freedom.'\n\nI lived within a few miles of Arlington, and on quiet summer afternoons, I'd go and visit the cemetery, and listen to the solemn beauty of Taps being played over the hills.  The notes seemed to linger in the air, and I knew then, as I know now, that without the sacrifices made by those buried there and throughout the world, I would not be free to answer this question today.\n\nI cannot describe what I do for a living.  I can't talk about it freely for the sake of my country.  But my desire to keep the confidences of the United States and to go to war for her, are as precious as my own heartbeat.  I promised to defend her against all enemies foreign and domestic.  This means I want to stop another 9/11, to prohibit another Oklahoma City bombing, and to provide for the freedom of her citizens. My decision to honor my oath has been worth the time away from my wife, my friends, and the places I love so much.\n\nGod knows, no one in their right mind wants to go to war or to be separated from loved ones.  I certainly don't want my family suffering the agony of being handed the flag covering my coffin.  But sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the greater good. \n\nWhen I was kid in Arlington, I counted it all blessing to be a citizen of this nation who has given the world freedom.  Iwo Jima, the beaches at Normandy, in Baghdad, in Vietnam, in France, in Germany, in Bosnia, in Leyte...so many places, so many honored dead.\n\n'Ask not what your country can do for you.' The United States has already done what some other countries have yet to accomplish.  It has given a new definition of freedom: Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom from oppression, freedom to live life in happiness, freedom to fulfill dreams. \n\n'Ask what you can do for your country.'  How much is our freedom worth?\n\nI have bled for this country.  I would gladly do so again if my wife, and my children could freely hear Taps being played in Arlington without fear, or to go to church without restriction, or to speak their minds and their hearts when they feel compelled.  For their freedom, and the freedom of all of the citizens of America and her allies, I would gladly bleed for the United States again.\n\nThank you for this question.  And for all of those serving, those buried under the white marble stones, and those who have come home to their families wounded in body and soul, may I say to you that you have my utmost respect and all of my thanks.
979980
hay brther in arms.\n3 tores Irack hear.\nim still in and loking at tore 4 hear soon.\nI hate that place.\ncoming back home for the first time, you remember how strang gust walking arond hear in the states wos right.\nIt woss allmost serale for me.\nits still strang just talking to cavilyons now.\nya man like the first poster sead find some one hues ben thrue it like us.\nI remember at ferst ( some times still is ) eaving thinking about some of the  shit Ive sean gave me a varey strong adreenalin rush that cinda sent me into a fight or flight responce.\nwair I cep fealing like I wos gona get shot and neaded to leave.\nor got varey agresiv but fought to stay still and quiet.\ntalking at ferst made it werce. and I could onley start and then Id have to walk away from the topick.\nbut my step father made me talk .\nthe more I did the more It got easeer.\nand then Id go back and make it werce.\nbut I fulley beleave now that talking to some one hue knowes wot the Fu#k wear talking about has helped me to setell back into the new world we came back to.\nno I cant see my self being that persion I wos agin but im not shore I wont to be that nieave ever agin.\nits amazing wot wear capibell of doing to eatch other over an Idea isint it frend.\nlike the first gy sead you have to forcew your self to help your self by geting out and and talking.\nI v gon thrue a fue shrinks since then and no that dont have a clue but thay are good at geting you to get some of it off your chest.\na batill budy is beter.\n\nus army sinig off \ngood luck frend.\nbe strong.
316624
Are you Donald Rumsfeld?\n\nSeriously, consider this poem...\n\nOzymandias\n\nI met a traveler from an antique land\nWho said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone\nStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,\nHalf sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,\nAnd wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,\nTell that its sculptor well those passions read,\nWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,\nThe hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,\nAnd on the pedestal these words appear:\n"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:\nLook upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"\nNothing beside remains. Round the decay\nOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare\nThe lone and level sands stretch far away.\n\n-Percy Bysshe Shelley\n1792-1822
146605
I am not a very religious person, but I am spiritual.  When you need God most He is there ... this poem says it all ...\n\nFootprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson\n\nOne night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was\nwalking along the beach with the Lord. Across the\nsky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he\nnoticed two sets of footprints in the sand: one\nbelonging to him, and the other to the Lord. When\nthe last scene of his life flashed before him, he\nlooked back at the footprints in the sand. He\nnoticed that many times along the path of his life\nthere was only one set of footprints. He also noticed\nthat it happened at the very lowest and saddest\ntimes in his life. This really bothered him and he\nquestioned the Lord about it. "Lord, You said that\nonce I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all\nthe way. But I have noticed that during the most\ntroublesome times in my life, there is only one set\nof footprints. I don't understand why when I needed\nyou most you would leave me." The Lord replied,\n"My son, My precious child, I love you and I would\nnever leave you. During your times of trial and\nsuffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it\nwas then that I Carried You."\n\nTake care.
540112
you better learn how to write the name of the country who taught all the humanity how to write,before you give your ill illetrate openion.\nit is iraq not irag .\nmy thaughts is dump all idiots like you in septic tanks,and let others sh*t on them.
368067
http://www.elfrank.com/bergtraum/images/IraqFlag.jpg\n\nThere you go !
748920
I think maybe you should write your own poem instead of trying to find one to give to your friend. The best things come from your own heart, not the hearts of others.
1106347
All I came up with were these:\n\n"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."\n\nI"f I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what's said against me won't amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference. "