Camp Followers Song Gomal River

We have left Gul Kach behind us,

Are marching on Apozai,–

Where pleasure and rest are waiting

To welcome us by and by.

We’re falling back from the Gomal,

Across the Gir-dao plain,

The camping ground is deserted,

We’ll never come back again.

Along the rocks and the defiles,

The mules and the camels wind.

Good-bye to Rahimut-Ullah,

The man who is left behind.

For some we lost in the skirmish,

And some were killed in the fight,

But he was captured by fever,

In the sentry pit, at night.

A rifle shot had been swifter,

Less trouble a sabre thrust,

But his Fate decided fever,

And each man dies as he must.

Behind us, red in the distance.

The wavering flames rise high,

The flames of our burning grass-huts,

Against the black of the sky.

We hear the sound of the river,

An ever-lessening moan,

The hearts of us all turn backwards

To where he is left alone.

We sing up a little louder,

We know that we feel bereft,

We’re leaving the camp together,

And only one of us left.

The only one, out of many,

And each must come to his end,

I wish I could stop this singing,

He happened to be my friend.

We’re falling back from the Gomal

We’re marching on Apozai,

And pleasure and rest are waiting

To welcome us by and by.

Perhaps the feast will taste bitter,

The lips of the girls less kind,–

Because of Rahimut-Ullah,

The man who is left behind!

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Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

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Poems in English 

• The Epic Menageries by MB Moshe by Poetry In English
• The Cup of Life by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• The Colored Balloon by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• The Cinnamon Peeler by Michael Ondaatje by Michael Ondaatje
• State Fair Time by Michael S Wilson by Poetry In English
• Speaking To You (From Rock Bottom) by Michael Ondaatje by Michael Ondaatje
• Soulmating by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Since That Summer by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Searching by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Scotland by MB Moshe by Poetry In English
• Ruined World by Michael Yuan by Poetry In English
• Ready for Retirement by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Promise Ya by Miraj Patel by Poetry In English
• Picking Cherries by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Outset by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• Obdurant men, the worst of the abstinant by Miles by Poetry In English
• Notes For The Legend Of Salad Woman by Michael Ondaatje by Michael Ondaatje
• Not even a child by Miles by Poetry In English
• Nailing by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English
• My Ink by Mike Yuan by Poetry In English

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Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

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Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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