I’m a big fan of rhythm. In the motion of living and non-living creations. And in music. And even down to syllables in words. That’s because rhythm is more than beats. It’s movement. A syncopated representation of life itself. And that’s why it’s unusual for me to write offbeat poetry. But a few years ago, I was inspired to do just that for Memorial Day 2013.
And I used offbeat poetry (for me anyway) to illustrate a point.
Soldiers are like guardian angels. But not actual guardian angels. And soldiers march to a different beat than you and me. But not an actual different beat. Because you and I should be looking out for one another, too. We don’t do it so much. But we should.
So, if you read back through that last section, and you pay attention to the flow, you’ll see the words fall back on themselves. At least I’d like you to see that. Because I want the words to convey how life is full of dichotomic similarities.
That idea rose up from the inner parts of my brain as I considered the recent events in Afghanistan. And all the senseless loss of life. Once again, soldiers paying the ultimate price for the stupidity of politicians playing fast and loose with truth.
And rather than muddying up the waters any more than I already have, I’ll just share my offbeat poetry from 2013 about soldier and angels. It’s appropriately called…
Soldiers, Angels
Soldiers, angels walkin’ through the green grass
Underneath the blue skies,
Singin’ soft lullabies,
And they carry baubles made of brass.
Soldiers, angels hikin’ up the high road
Lookin’ for the heart light
Gotta make it start right
Now because they have a heavy load.
Soldiers, angels have left us a tutorial
On how to skip mistakes
Like everybody makes…
Then we build a sad memorial.
Soldiers, angels…one becomes the other
Takin’ on a new role
And up goes the death toll.
Why can’t every man just love his brother?
Soldiers, angels…we can’t live without them
Paying for our error
Till God stops this terror…
And that’s why I wrote this poem about them.
Stay tuned,
Get my Rhyme & Reason Podcast delivered (free) right to your device.
My books are also on Amazon.com or Apple Books
Grab yourself an un-cool T-shirt
Or how about some music for kids