300 Yards, By Brian37 (Originally posted on Rational Responders, April 11th 2012)
Not a statistic
Of the big game
Not of passing
Not of running
The flaps came down
And the brave became
Targets moving
Like a carnival game
No stuffed animal won
No cotton candy sold
Just crimson white caps
Shredded flesh, blown up and shot
They played with Jax
No bouncing ball
And after that
Faced land mines and barbed wire
Some in shock
Stood up in horror
Exploding watermelons
Became their skull
The buzzing bees
Were supposed to help
But missed far to many
Of those atop the cliffs
The white cotton
Was too dense
Making the pilots
Afraid to deploy
And the marionettes
In Warhol numbers
Missed their mark
Falling from above
The hard shell tortoise
Came to help
But he and his brethren
Fell prey to the shallows
The carnival patron
Had the edge
Or so he thought
The game was rigged
The darts were dense
Hitting many a balloon
Surely the fortification
Would be enough
But the bleak weather
At the French Fair
The beaches littered
With limbs and valor
The pill boxes lost
It was no game
It was 300 yards
To victory
I think about
This legacy
And what if
It had been me
No way no way
Not one ounce
Not one yard
Not one inch
I could not do
What they did
I could not step
Onto that beach
I have to thank
Those who did
Made the run
So I could live
300 yards
Beyond the Jax
Beyond the wire
To climb the cliffs
I am here
Because of them
And what they did
So I could live.
Not a statistic
Of the big game
Not of passing
Not of running
The flaps came down
And the brave became
Targets moving
Like a carnival game
No stuffed animal won
No cotton candy sold
Just crimson white caps
Shredded flesh, blown up and shot
They played with Jax
No bouncing ball
And after that
Faced land mines and barbed wire
Some in shock
Stood up in horror
Exploding watermelons
Became their skull
The buzzing bees
Were supposed to help
But missed far to many
Of those atop the cliffs
The white cotton
Was too dense
Making the pilots
Afraid to deploy
And the marionettes
In Warhol numbers
Missed their mark
Falling from above
The hard shell tortoise
Came to help
But he and his brethren
Fell prey to the shallows
The carnival patron
Had the edge
Or so he thought
The game was rigged
The darts were dense
Hitting many a balloon
Surely the fortification
Would be enough
But the bleak weather
At the French Fair
The beaches littered
With limbs and valor
The pill boxes lost
It was no game
It was 300 yards
To victory
I think about
This legacy
And what if
It had been me
No way no way
Not one ounce
Not one yard
Not one inch
I could not do
What they did
I could not step
Onto that beach
I have to thank
Those who did
Made the run
So I could live
300 yards
Beyond the Jax
Beyond the wire
To climb the cliffs
I am here
Because of them
And what they did
So I could live.
