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Thread: Poetry

  1. #1

    Fenko
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    Default Poetry

    I was told some here might enjoy this. Anyone else also inclined to write?

    WINGS OF WAR

    One angel in the sky
    Does not make peace
    We are simply with too few
    To save all

    Just let them come to us
    The birds of prey
    We'll soar amid the hail
    And protect

    But then one shot nearby -
    My engine stalls
    The ground comes hurtling up
    Take my place
    So that...
    This won't mar...
    Our grace.

  2. #2

    Default

    Hi Fenko,

    I was already told you wrote a beautiful poem, but to be honest I didn't expect it to be this beautiful ...
    Brings a whole new, wonderful aspect to this site, I do hope this brings other gifted people here to share similar beauties with us.

    I hope you will continue to bring to this site other jewels

    Oh, and by the way, why don't you join the Dutch Wing, I heard you're a gifted pilot as well
    Guus
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  3. #3

    Default

    When
    The skies darken
    With enemy wings.

    When bombers are legion.

    I bring
    One more of the few
    To sing

    The song so lonely
    Made
    To dance with the wings of death.

  4. #4

    Default

    Holy smoke, you're not only a good pilot, a good paperplane builder, a good plane painter, a good friend but ... also a good poet. Who would have thought that I think this calls for
    Join me in the newly opened cozy Dutch mess, we'll share a bottle of jenever ...
    Guus
    Last edited by Aardvark1430; 11-23-2015 at 00:45.
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  5. #5

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Aardvark1430 View Post
    Holy smoke, you're not only a good pilot, a good paperplane builder, a good plane painter, a good friend but ... also a good poet. Who woould have thought that I think this calls for
    Join me in the newly opened friendly Dutch mess, we'll share a bottle of jenever ...
    Guus
    Going there already, Wing Commander.

  6. #6

    Default

    Plop goes the cork ...
    Guus
    Last edited by Aardvark1430; 11-22-2015 at 11:17.
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  7. #7

    Default

    Well done, Fenko and Joaquim!

  8. #8

    Thumbs up

    Quote Originally Posted by Naharaht View Post
    Well done, Fenko and Joaquim!

  9. #9

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    Fenko

    Joaquim

    Fantastic poetry which shows how we wargamers both have good knowledge of as well as show great appreciation and respect for our subject area. This thread is an outstanding example of both of these ...

    I opened this thread out of interest thinking I would be presented with discussions about W B Yeats An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death and so forth. No I was IMHO presented with something far better. Nice work so far.

  10. #10

    Default

    Thank you, my friends.
    Knowing Fenko, I'd say that I'll have to be in my toes to keep up with her.

  11. #11

    Fenko
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    Default

    Thanks all for the kind words, here and in PM! That's good motivation to post more often. And of course I'm counting on your contributions, Joaquim - we keep each other sharp.


    FLIGHT

    Between sky and the fundament
    Between fear and hope
    Between damnation and salvation

    I am a paper shield
    I am St Michael in flight
    I am a leaf on the wind

    Yet I fly at my most elegant
    At my most desperate
    With
    a
    kraut
    on
    my
    tail

  12. #12

    Default

    Can't give you more REP, Fenko.
    But the end of this poem is pure art of flying.

  13. #13

    Default

    Ahhh, lovely, well written with full emotions,
    Guus
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  14. #14

    Default

    WARNINGS

    When the sirens wail a malicious song
    And the eyes stare up at the skies,
    They run like scared ducklings
    Until
    They're inside
    Their mounts.

    Then

    With their engines roaring
    They gain courage
    With their wings tilting up
    They clench their teeth
    And brace themselves
    For the fatal joust.
    Last edited by Blackronin; 11-23-2015 at 14:19.

  15. #15

    Default

    These are all so good you should be writing for the Wipers Times.
    Makes my ode to Ken the Cowman look really second rate.
    Kyte.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  16. #16

    Default

    Comrades
    - Honoring Tonx -

    Out here among the clouds
    Out here in the perfect blue skies
    Brothers and sisters I say aloud
    Your laughter and cries are mine.

    Here I seek joy and wonder
    Here I enjoy the giants company
    But if amidst the storm and thunder
    For you my hand will be steady.

    There's no joy without suffering
    There's no comradry without pain
    That's why friendship is everything
    And never a loss, always a gain.

    Joaquim

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blackronin View Post
    - Honoring Tonx -
    Joaquim I hope you have received my PM and I'd like to thank you very much for this Posting

    Being worthy of a Rep Point or two I have tried however the Aerodrome intervened as I have awarded you points elsewhere just recently - the usual friendly reminder we are all used to by now appeared instead of the Approval Box I was hoping to see.

    This really is turning into one of the most interesting and inspirational threads that IMHO I think I have ever seen on here. On the next occasion I play WGS it will certainly make me stop and reflect on what I have been reading as opposed to just Plug In ... Play on ... Oh look a Boom Card! (seeing as we appear to have a bit of a Boom Card epidemic on our hands at the moment!) Secondly it's going to serve as a way of teaching me everything I appreciate about being able to play Wings of Glory at all rather than self-centredly focusing on other matters let's just keep it to like I feel I have been doing of late ...

  18. #18

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    Barney, your words are REP enough.

  19. #19

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    PS - Here's something a little more cheerful that I have written over the last couple of days which concerns a famous incident which kind of back-fired on me during my military career! I may have mentioned this before but there is a pub on Bargate in Grimsby (North East Lincolnshire - now famous for Guy Martin) called The Wheatsheaf and every Monday night they used to run an excellent quiz. So good in fact that some guys I formerly served with ... Part 1 and I used to go there often. Until the famous occasion when one night in order to impress some young ladies I decided to verbally come out with the almost perfect specifications of a MiG-25A Foxbat jet. Only for them to be left thinking that I was then arrested on the spot for driving some supercar just a little too fast along the A180 - I was never even given the chance to tell those two girls what a MiG-25A actually was ... Hence this:

    Careless Talk Costs ... Pints!

    There was me out in Grimsby Town
    I was hunting for my next girlfriend.
    Till a bloke tapped my back,
    Said 'you plane-spotting prat'
    And then whisked me off to be vetted!


    At which point Part 2 of my military career began but sadly that's the part I am unable to talk about ... thanks to the Official Secrets Act! Hence the need for me to be vetted prior to taking up the role (another term for being questioned about EVERYTHING I had ever done in life over a VERY LONG TIME) which the M o D wasted no time over doing ...
    Last edited by Tonx; 11-24-2015 at 05:06. Reason: Poem Title inserted.

  20. #20

    Default

    I know exactly what you mean Barney, but I could not honestly comment further.
    It gave me a chuckle though.
    Kyte.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  21. #21

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Blackronin View Post
    Comrades
    - Honoring Tonx -

    Out here among the clouds
    Out here in the perfect blue skies
    Brothers and sisters I say aloud
    Your laughter and cries are mine.

    Here I seek joy and wonder
    Here I enjoy the giants company
    But if amidst the storm and thunder
    For you my hand will be steady.

    There's no joy without suffering
    There's no comradry without pain
    That's why friendship is everything
    And never a loss, always a gain.

    Joaquim
    How proud I am to be your friend ...
    What you just wrote is the absolute truth, worded in a way I never could

    Guus
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  22. #22

    Default

    Tonx,
    I have a few acquaintances with the same, ah shall we say, problem that you have, so I guess I know a bit of how it feels.
    Your description touched me. However I think it is prudent of you to have removed the post ...
    Guus
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  23. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aardvark1430 View Post
    Tonx,
    I have a few acquaintances with the same, ah shall we say, problem that you have, so I guess I know a bit of how it feels.
    Your description touched me. However I think it is prudent of you to have removed the post ...
    Guus
    Hello Guus hope you are well. I know which posting which you are referring to and it has indeed now been removed. The thing is this thread and the Aerodrome are about Wings of Glory and about the excellence of playing the game. Not about the ins and outs of acute bi-polar disorder / manic depression. I posted the poem I wrote and then on reflection changed my mind about it being on the Aerodrome - however I am still sorry to learn that people have been disappointed by my posting's removal. I felt that I have also been complaining rather a lot - maybe a little too much about my disability and the effects that it was having upon my playing career in particular. It was also I feel a little self-centred and did not acknowledge the number of Aerodrome Members like yourself who have shown support and encouragement towards my situation whilst I have been unwell.

    I am also aware of other Aerodrome Members with disabilities and medical conditions themselves who post on here regularly and instead of focusing on the negative focus on the positive instead - focus on playing the game and what the game is all about instead of doom gloom and too much heavy duty medical stuff. As I removed my original posting (since replaced with something that's actually mildly amusing) I was just far to aware of how me-me-me everything in it was sounding. This thread is all about selflessness without which we would not have a game to play. Not selfishness rambling on about secondary matters all the time.

    I hope you understand as do others who wonder where my posting has gone and then read this explanation as to why I have removed it

  24. #24

  25. #25

    Default

    Hi Barney,
    I already fully understood
    Thanks for your reaction though
    Guus
    "zet 'm op ... witte muizen !" (strijdkreet van 1e JaVa, Luchtvaart Afdeling, Nederland 1940)
    "let's go get them ... white mice !" (battlecry of the 1st Fighter Group, Army Air Force, Netherlands 1940)

  26. #26

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    I think that it is about time somebody posted this classic piece of aviation and war poetry by W B Yeats ... One of my postings early on in this thread mentions this stunning and thought-provoking piece of work

    An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death

    I know that I shall meet my fate
    Somewhere among the clouds above:
    Those that I fight I do not hate,
    Those that I guard I do not love:
    My country is Kiltartan Cross,
    My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
    No likely end could bring them loss
    Or leave them happier than before.
    Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
    Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
    A lonely impulse of delight
    Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
    I balanced all, brought all to mind,
    The years to come seemed waste of breath,
    A waste of breath the years behind
    In balance with this life, this death.


    W. B. Yeats

  27. #27

    Fenko
    Guest


    Default

    Such activity here! Wonderful


    AGAINST THE GRAIN

    The whistle of air, that threatening sound,
    Causes confusion below on the ground,
    Fear now grows in sickening size,
    As black drops fall before their eyes

    From high above, I steel my heart
    Make myself into a poisonous dart
    Made for offence, too fragile to shield
    Destroy the enemy - Albion can never yield.

  28. #28

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tonx View Post
    I think that it is about time somebody posted this classic piece of aviation and war poetry by W B Yeats ... One of my postings early on in this thread mentions this stunning and thought-provoking piece of work

    An Irish Airman Foresees His Own Death

    I know that I shall meet my fate
    Somewhere among the clouds above:
    Those that I fight I do not hate,
    Those that I guard I do not love:
    My country is Kiltartan Cross,
    My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
    No likely end could bring them loss
    Or leave them happier than before.
    Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
    Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
    A lonely impulse of delight
    Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
    I balanced all, brought all to mind,
    The years to come seemed waste of breath,
    A waste of breath the years behind
    In balance with this life, this death.


    W. B. Yeats
    This is one of Yeats poems I like the most.

  29. #29

    Default

    Fenko:

    Once again, as we say in France in 1940: "Dans la mouche!"

    Oh!

    And also REP!

  30. #30

    Fenko
    Guest


    Default

    I see the fundament fall away behind me
    My heart hesitates
    My engine stalls
    Everything hangs in the balance
    Life slows to a crawl, then speeds up extremely
    My heart in my teeth
    And my hands on the stick
    Now the ground comes hurtling up
    Now... I'm ready to face the enemy

  31. #31

    Default

    Bravo!
    REP!

    CHOICES

    When thy sigh and thy sad eyes look far
    When thy feet feel me in the soft grass
    Searching the blue skies for a metal star
    Or for my shattered wings of glass,
    Remember that I galloped the clouds
    With a childish and happy laughter
    Remember that I accepted the vows
    That I paid to get what I was looking after.
    Last edited by Blackronin; 12-14-2015 at 13:01.

  32. #32

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    Rep Point Poem.

    More wonderful words all worthy of a Rep Point,
    The thought of the brave with their attention turned to home.
    All which can be found in a remarkable collection,
    In this thread on the success story which is the Aerodrome.

  33. #33

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blackronin View Post
    This is one of Yeats poems I like the most.
    Have you seen the David Puttnam film Memphis Belle which was released in 1990 Joaquim? This poem features quite prominently in the film when about halfway through Danny (Wireless Operator / Eric Stoltz) begins to read it and the other crew members begin to think that he had written it himself ... Then dramatically towards the tail-end of the film he confesses that it was Yeats.

    The song Danny Boy also features throughout the film - most notably when Clay (Tail Gunner / Harry Connick Jr) plays and sings it on the piano in the wake of a serious faux pas lead by PR Officer John Lithgow ...

  34. #34

    Default

    Eyes in the Air.

    by Gilbert Frankau.

    Our guns are a league behind us, our target a mile below,
    And there's never a cloud to blind us from the haunts of our lurking foe -
    Sunk pit whence his shrapnel tore us, support-trench crest concealed,
    As clear as the charts before us, his ramparts lie revealed.
    His panicked watchers spy us, a droning threat in the void;
    Their whistling shells outfly us - puff upon puff, deployed
    Across the green beneath us, across the flanking grey,
    In fume and fire to sheath us and baulk us of our prey.Before, beyond, above her,
    Their iron web is spun:
    Flicked but unsnared we hover,
    Edged planes against the sun:
    Eyes in the air above his lair,
    The hawks that guide the gun!No word from earth may reach us, save, white against the ground,
    The strips outspread to teach us whose ears are deaf to sound:
    But down the winds that sear us, athwart our engine's shriek,
    We send - and know they hear us, the ranging guns we speak.
    Our visored eyeballs show us their answering pennant, broke
    Eight thousand feet below us, a whorl of flame-stabbed smoke -
    The burst that hangs to guide us, while numbed gloved fingers tap
    From wireless key beside us the circles of the map.
    Line - target - short or over -
    Come, plain as clock hands run,
    Words from the birds that hover,
    Unblinded, tail to sun;
    Words out of air to range them fair,
    From hawks that guide the gun!Your flying shells have failed you, your landward guns are dumb:
    Since earth hath naught availed you, these skies be open! Come,
    Where, wild to meet and mate you, flame in their beaks for breath,
    Black doves! the white hawks wait you on the wind-tossed boughs of death.
    These boughs be cold without you, our hearts are hot for this,
    Our wings shall beat about you, our scorching breath shall kiss;
    Till, fraught with that we gave you, fulfilled of our desire,
    You bank - too late to save you from biting beaks of fire -
    Turn sideways from your lover,
    Shudder and swerve and run,
    Tilt; stagger; and plunge over
    Ablaze against the sun:
    Doves dead in air, who climb to dare
    The hawks that guide the gun!



    In tribute to memories of our Brave adversaries the Kaiser's Eagles.

    Kyte.

    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  35. #35

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tonx View Post
    Have you seen the David Puttnam film Memphis Belle which was released in 1990 Joaquim? This poem features quite prominently in the film when about halfway through Danny (Wireless Operator / Eric Stoltz) begins to read it and the other crew members begin to think that he had written it himself ... Then dramatically towards the tail-end of the film he confesses that it was Yeats.

    The song Danny Boy also features throughout the film - most notably when Clay (Tail Gunner / Harry Connick Jr) plays and sings it on the piano in the wake of a serious faux pas lead by PR Officer John Lithgow ...
    For some reason I haven't seen it yet. But now I will.

  36. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Blackronin View Post
    For some reason I haven't seen it yet. But now I will.
    Joaquim all I will say is ... Make sure your safety strap is fastened. This is one hell of a ride but you will not regret it

  37. #37

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Officer Kyte View Post
    Eyes in the Air.

    by Gilbert Frankau.

    Our guns are a league behind us, our target a mile below,
    And there's never a cloud to blind us from the haunts of our lurking foe -
    Sunk pit whence his shrapnel tore us, support-trench crest concealed,
    As clear as the charts before us, his ramparts lie revealed.
    His panicked watchers spy us, a droning threat in the void;
    Their whistling shells outfly us - puff upon puff, deployed
    Across the green beneath us, across the flanking grey,
    In fume and fire to sheath us and baulk us of our prey.Before, beyond, above her,
    Their iron web is spun:
    Flicked but unsnared we hover,
    Edged planes against the sun:
    Eyes in the air above his lair,
    The hawks that guide the gun!No word from earth may reach us, save, white against the ground,
    The strips outspread to teach us whose ears are deaf to sound:
    But down the winds that sear us, athwart our engine's shriek,
    We send - and know they hear us, the ranging guns we speak.
    Our visored eyeballs show us their answering pennant, broke
    Eight thousand feet below us, a whorl of flame-stabbed smoke -
    The burst that hangs to guide us, while numbed gloved fingers tap
    From wireless key beside us the circles of the map.
    Line - target - short or over -
    Come, plain as clock hands run,
    Words from the birds that hover,
    Unblinded, tail to sun;
    Words out of air to range them fair,
    From hawks that guide the gun!Your flying shells have failed you, your landward guns are dumb:
    Since earth hath naught availed you, these skies be open! Come,
    Where, wild to meet and mate you, flame in their beaks for breath,
    Black doves! the white hawks wait you on the wind-tossed boughs of death.
    These boughs be cold without you, our hearts are hot for this,
    Our wings shall beat about you, our scorching breath shall kiss;
    Till, fraught with that we gave you, fulfilled of our desire,
    You bank - too late to save you from biting beaks of fire -
    Turn sideways from your lover,
    Shudder and swerve and run,
    Tilt; stagger; and plunge over
    Ablaze against the sun:
    Doves dead in air, who climb to dare
    The hawks that guide the gun!



    In tribute to memories of our Brave adversaries the Kaiser's Eagles.

    Kyte.

    Beautiful!

  38. #38

    Fenko
    Guest


    Default

    AT SEA

    Peaceful and patient, some sailors claim,
    Forgetting her fragile, furious heart.
    But the canal is only tamed in name,
    That briny border... regaled in both recent and ancient art.

    But whenever dividing the azure above from the timeless teal,
    Floating far on calm cumuli instead of comber,
    It is difficult to disregard that plausible peril
    Of finding the, by sailors sang of, tumultuous tomb there.

    But find your valour, fearful flyer, and pick up your pluck,
    For amid all the catastrophe you're courting,
    There exists an exclusive equilibrium 'tween skill and luck,
    So harness your hours... and concentrate on the cause you're supporting.

  39. #39

    Default

    You may like to look at 100 years ago today in the U.K. sub forum.
    Rob.
    "Courage is the art of being the only one who knows you're scared to death."

  40. #40

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Fenko View Post
    AT SEA

    Peaceful and patient, some sailors claim,
    Forgetting her fragile, furious heart.
    But the canal is only tamed in name,
    That briny border... regaled in both recent and ancient art.

    But whenever dividing the azure above from the timeless teal,
    Floating far on calm cumuli instead of comber,
    It is difficult to disregard that plausible peril
    Of finding the, by sailors sang of, tumultuous tomb there.

    But find your valour, fearful flyer, and pick up your pluck,
    For amid all the catastrophe you're courting,
    There exists an exclusive equilibrium 'tween skill and luck,
    So harness your hours... and concentrate on the cause you're supporting.
    From Portugal with awe.
    Perfect, dear friend.

  41. #41

    Default

    DOGFIGHT HAIKU

    With the flying devil on your back
    Death spilling uneven between the prop blades
    Bank right or bank left?

  42. #42

    Fenko
    Guest


    Default

    @Kyte: cool, found it!
    @Ronin: thanks, and neat haiku!



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