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Poem
grdad45
Member Posts: 5,381 ✭✭✭✭
Got it in an email, thought id share
I watched the flag
Pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine Saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..
I looked at
Him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square
And eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men
Like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign
Soil
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes
Shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers'
Graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of Taps
One night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler
Play
And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a
Coffin. Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the
Children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and
Husbands
With interrupted lives.
I Thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in
Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free .
I watched the flag
Pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine Saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..
I looked at
Him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square
And eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men
Like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign
Soil
How many mothers' tears?
How many pilots' planes
Shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers'
Graves?
No, freedom isn't free.
I heard the sound of Taps
One night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler
Play
And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a
Coffin. Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the
Children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and
Husbands
With interrupted lives.
I Thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in
Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free .
Comments
"Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to accept every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real,
Isn't afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn't conform to the usual mold,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight wont do,
Never back down when he sees what is true,
Tells it all straight, and means it all too,
Going forward and knowing he's right,
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
Over and over he makes his case clear,
Reaching to touch the ones who won't hear,
Growing in strength, he won't be unnerved,
Ever assuring he'll stand by his word,
Wanting the world to join his firm stand,
Bracing for war, but praying for peace,
Using his power so evil will cease:
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must."
At first I thought this was funny...then I realized the awful truth of it. Be sure to read all the way to the end!
Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.
Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.
Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.
Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his *.
Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers,
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.
Put these words
Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom...'
When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Ta x (44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middleclass in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?!?!?!?
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)
Out Of The Night That Covers Me (Invictus)
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
There once was a man from Nantucket
who .....
[;)][:D]
You said it.
There once was a man from Nantucket
who .....
[;)][:D]
[:D]Not counting those. I learned them in grade school!
"Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed."
In other words, "You can kick my *, but I won't kiss yours."
So did my late father-in-law, George. I'd never heard the poem before he told me about it and asked me to get a print of it for him. I'm glad he did!
I read a couple of stanzas of it at his memorial ceremony and posted about him in the below thread.
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=482762
Big Al (We still miss you, Dad, and I'm still trying to be at least half the man you were!)