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Yanks : $b A.E.F. verse: originally published in "The Stars and Stripes," the official newspaper of the American expeditionary forcesVarious

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Yanks : $b A.E.F. verse: originally published in "The Stars and Stripes," the official newspaper of the American expeditionary forces

Name: Yanks : $b A.E.F. verse: originally published in "The Stars and Stripes," the official newspaper of the American expeditionary forces
Author: Various

Various

American poetry -- 20th century; World War, 1914-1918 -- Poetry

Jus’ God and Gen’rul Pershing knows where these here birds’ll light,
   Where them bumpin’ trucks is bound for under camouflage o’ night,
   When they can’t take aero pitchers with their Fokkers in the sky
   Of our changes o’ location by the trucks a-rollin’ by.

   So altho’ my bed is puddles an’ I’m soaked through to the hide,
   My heart’s out with them doughboys on their bouncin’, singin’ ride,
   They’re bound for paths o’ glory, or, p’raps, to fight ’n’ die—
   God bless that Yankee cargo in the trucks a-rollin’ by.
                 L. W. SUCKERT, 1st Lt., A.S.




                            GETTIN’ LETTERS


   When you’re far away from home an’ you’re feelin’ kind o’ blue,
   When the world is topsy turvy, nothin’ sets jest right fer you,
   Yuh can sneer at all yer troubles, an’ yer cares yuh never mind,
   When you’ve really had a letter from the Girl yuh left behind.

   When the cook is downright nutty, an’ his biskits never raise,
   When he feeds yuh canned tomatoes fer jes’ seventeen straight days,
   Yuh can quite fergit he’s nutty, yuh can treat him fairly kind,
   If you’ve really had a letter from the Girl yuh left behind.

   When the Captain’s got a grouch on, an’ has bawled yuh out fer fair,
   When some pesky Lieut has sassed yuh which to home he wouldn’t dare,
   Yuh can lift yer chin an’ whistle, an’ that’s easy, yuh will find,
   If you’ve really had a letter from the Girl yuh left behind.

   When a letter comes yuh grab it right before the other guys,
   An’ yuh git a little vision of the light that’s in Her eyes;
   Yuh can see Her smiles an’ dimples, an’ fer other girls you’re blind
   When you’ve really had a letter from the Girl yuh left behind.

   Jest a sheet or two of paper with a purple stamp or two,
   But it means the whole creation to the heart an’ soul o’ you,
   An’ yuh git to feelin’ pious, an’ yuh pray a bit, yuh mind,
   For the great Almighty’s blessin’ on the Girl yuh left behind.
                     E. C. D., Field Hospital.




                       TO THE CHILDREN OF FRANCE


                I wish you, children, playing round
                On this too-rudely trampled ground,
                Only the good things I would send
                To all the children I befriend.

                But one wish circles all: To know
                Little of what your elders do,
                And somehow into the sunlight grow
                Out of the mists they stumble through.
                              R. R. KIRK, Pvt., G2, S.O.S.




                      THEN WE’LL COME BACK TO YOU

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Yanks : $b A.E.F. verse: originally published in "The Stars and Stripes," the official newspaper of the American expeditionary forces

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