A poem by Alan Dugan
Because of the unaccountable spirit of the troops
oh we were marched as we were never marched before
and flanked them off from home. Stupid Meade
was after them, head on to tail, but we convinced
him, finally, to flank, flank, cut off their head.
He finally understood, the idiot, and got a fort
named after him, for wisdom. He probably thought
Lee would conquer Washington from Appomattox
if he, Meade, should march his infantry behind
him, Lee. Ah well, the unaccountable spirit of the troops
triumphed, Meade got his fort, Grant got his presidency,
Sherman got his motto, what was it? War is heck?, Lee got a military school
for the education of young Southern gentlemen, and the Union
Army was taken over by Southern noncommissioned officers
in the wars against the Indians to the west. I know all
about this, I know who won, I served under them
for three hundred and fifty years in World War II,
just long enough not to be called a rookie but a veteran,
and realized the rank and order of my enemies:
first, the West Point officers; second, the red-neck sergeants;
third, the Nazis and perhaps the Japanese. I won
all of these wars as a private soldier, for a while,
and am happy to have done so: without me
Hitler and Hirohito would he ruling the world
instead of America and Russia, but I still will not
drive through Georgia with New York license plates.
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External links
Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus
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Poems in English
- Content Written Off Ithica poem – Alfred Austin
- Chi È? poem – Alfred Austin
- By The Fates poem – Alfred Austin
- Burns’s Statue At Irvine poem – Alfred Austin
- “Beyond the pasture’s withered bents ” poem – Alfred Austin
- Before, Behind, And Beyond poem – Alfred Austin
- “Because I failed, shall I asperse the End” poem – Alfred Austin
- At Vaucluse poem – Alfred Austin
- At The Lattice poem – Alfred Austin
- At The Gate Of The Convent poem – Alfred Austin
- At Shelley’s House At Lerici poem – Alfred Austin
- At Shelley’s Grave poem – Alfred Austin
- At San Giovanni Del Lago poem – Alfred Austin
- A Woman’s Apology poem – Alfred Austin
- A Wintry Picture poem – Alfred Austin
- A Wintry Picture (II) poem – Alfred Austin
- A Wild Rose poem – Alfred Austin
- A Voice From The West poem – Alfred Austin
- A Twilight Song poem – Alfred Austin
- A Tusculan Question poem – Alfred Austin
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Alan Dugan (1923 – 2003) an American poet, a contemporary classic of American poetry.