Red Rover, Red Rover – Send Your Soldiers Over
Red Rover …
Red Rover, Red Rover,
Send Tommy right over,
And he was sent to war,
Now gone forever more.
Duck, Duck, Goose,
Turn my people loose,
Or bombs I’ll send,
Your people to end.
Leap Frog give a backing.
Weapons I am lacking,
Give many weapons, too,
So I can attack you.
Tag! You are now it!
My country you will hit,
I will not refrain,
To tag you again.
Mother May I be a soldier?
No! Not even when older,
World is at war my child,
And the good are reviled.
Red Rover, Red Rover,
Send soldiers right over,
So many say good-bye,
And their Mommas cry.
Ring-a-round the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.
The first line of each stanza gives the name of a child’s game, games that were fun when we
were young. The children grow up, wars happen, and so many die. War results in loss,
sorrow and death. Soldiers come home with crippling wounds, psychological issues like
PTSD, and many are unable to readjust to society or obtain jobs. Some never come home.
War is for world leaders to gain power – they should just sit at a table and play with toy
soldiers, toy battleships, toy planes … to appease their need for winning. Then we can
teach our children in love, kindness and world peace.
© 2017 Phyllis Doyle Burns
I have always liked to write.It is important to me that writing comes from my heart and soul. When writing poetry, if I do not feel a spiritual connection to what I am writing on, I will discard it and go on to something I can connect with on a spiritual level. I live in the moment, I write from the past or beyond the veil. When writing fiction I go with whatever inspires me at the moment - it could be funny, sorrowful, romantic or sometimes done with the use of colloquial language from mountain folk or other cultural regions.
I began writing content online in 2007, starting with BellaOnline - A Voice For Women, where I was the Native American Editor, Folklore & Mythology Editor, and the Appalachian Editor. I also wrote articles forThe Examiner, Daily Two Cents, and Yahoo. I am currently an author on HubPages.
Most of what I write takes a lot of research and I love it. Even if it is a fictional story, I will research for accuracy in whatever it takes to make my characters, their era, their location, etc. become realistic to the reader.
I hope you enjoy my works. Thank you for visiting.
- Ode to Voices in Desert Sands - August 14, 2023
- My Secluded Mountain Forest Nook - July 24, 2023
- My Cozy Log Cabin in the Woods - July 22, 2023
Most creative. Nicely penned. War is truly a terrible thing.
Thank you, Rasma, I appreciate your comment. Take care, dear friend.
A profound and evocative contrast between innocence and the reality of war. Nicely penned and expressed Phyllis.
Thank you, Tony. So glad you appreciate the work. Take care. You are up early today, enjoy this blessed day.
Such a conflicting world that we leave in Phyllis, and you painted it wonderfully
Thank you, Kurt. Yes, a very conflicting world indeed.