
Patriot Songs: Poems about Brave Patriots Who Sacrificed to Keep America Safe and Free (68 pp. $7.95, paperbackis a small collection of rather old-fashioned-style rhyming poetry that celebrates the service of men and women throughout our nation’s history. Staub is an American veteran with a lifelong interest in military history.
“A Hero Plain and Simple” addresses the idea of a quiet, everyday hero taking care of his loved ones:
He works hard to support his family,
Each day of every long and tiring week.
He lives his life with grace and dignity,
While praise and notoriety, he never seeks.
“A Memorial Day Prayer” begins this way:
Many American soldiers have marched into eternity.
They’ve given everything they had to give;
Their lives, their souls, and their prosperity.
They sacrificed it all so in freedom we might live.
From “The Appetite of War (The Siege of Firebase Ripcord)”:
Fearful eyes scan a blurry horizon to the fore,
when thunderous blasts all at once begin to roar.
Flashes of light, then screams, right and left,
as shadowy figures trip the wires of death.
Heavy fire along heavily barricaded battle lines,
keep heads pinned down, as retorts it undermines.
Deadly rounds buzz through leaves and trees,
like swarms of thousands of angry bees.
There is likely no other form of writing that can be as personal and heartfelt as poetry, and it’s always enjoyable to read how veterans use the medium to express themselves. None of these poems appear to have been previously published in any literary journals.
Half of the net proceeds from the royalties of this book will be donated to nonprofit veterans’ organizations, including Vietnam Veterans of America.
–Bill McCloud