Francis Duggan History Poems

As they chased the wild bison on horse back they whooped and cheered loud
And they were great hunters so noble and proud
But now on the prairies the bison are rare
And the people who hunted them no longer there.
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By those interested in war history war history is read
But the winners write the war history or so it is said
That is how it is and will always be
What is true to one is not to another that's how it seems to me
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We only hear of war and terrorism and crimes against humanity
In the World news headlines every day on radio and t v
Systematic abuse by so called soldiers on their prisoners of such we hear and see
And history repeats itself or so 'twould seem to me.
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Many greats of human history have come to and from life have gone
But life in the World as usual goes on
Many who thought they were irreplaceable in cemeteries lay
And life it does go on without them today
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The German masses lauded Hitler and chanted his name
But due to his autocratic rule millions of crimes of shame
Had he won the war he'd be a Worldwide hero today
The war winners write the war history it does seem this way
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It will not matter to you if you are remembered or not
So many good people in death are forgot
The names of some very bad people have lived on in time
Though they have been the perpetrators of many a bad crime
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The past now is history for you and for me
We only have memories of what used to be
At midnight this evening today will be gone
And time as ever does keep on ticking on
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We've not learned from war history the facts never lie
For God and for Country many still fight and die
The flowers do not bloom brighter on the dead soldier's grave
As the one who died of old age and was not known to be brave.
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We hear and read of the savagery of the lion and the shark
Yet men crucified Jesus and burnt to death Joan of Arc
But carnivore predators to survive do need lots of meat
And us humans to them are just something to eat,
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That from the lessons of history some do not learn does seem sad to say
About borders and religion and Nature's assets wars are waged every day
The opportunity to kill other human beings some never do miss
To the angry males of the World sheer ignorance is bliss
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The losers never write the war history that's something we already know
Yet for the many wars fought through the ages we do not have the wisdom to show
That victory too comes at a huge cost for war the price is huge to pay
For families who grieve for their dead members their sense of loss with them will stay
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You tell me of your Australian history your ancestors were British and Irish pioneers
But your history in this Land is not an old history just two centuries and twenty years
And in time that may seem quite a long span though the combined life spans of three people nothing more
Your ancestors hardly were Aussies they came here from a distant shore.
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Men crucified the one millions now worship more than two thousand years ago
Yet many men they are as cruel today and any compassion towards others they never seem to show
And the gifts of compassion and empathy to the special few belong
And many far too many seemingly cannot tell right from wrong
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What have we learned from history little if anything
Of war men and war heroes their praises we still sing
Humankind have come far in technology and on the moon surface have trod
And still we fight for our Nation's flag and go to war for our God.
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That the winners write the war histories should not be the case
For war is a tragedy a human disgrace
And the losers in war see their Country destoyed
And the war history never written by the losing side.
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The lessons we should have learnt from history when the history of mankind we recall
By us it would seem not been noted from history we've not learnt at all
As men still wage war on each other and thousands of innocents die
Not from the cross fire of the warring soldiers but from death exploding from the sky.
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In the early nineteen twenties when Britain as a World power
did rate
In the treaty of Ugayr to Iraq and Saudi Arabia they gave some of Kuwait
And for full independence from the U.K.another four decades to wait
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Saddam Hussein locked up in prison he will never more attack
The poor Kurds of the mountains of northern Iraq
He has killed so many people his actions were all bad
And he deserved his nick name of the 'Butcher of Baghdad'.
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It's the winners who write history at least that's what they say
That's how it was and that's how it is for it's always been that way
And the losers are forgotten and trampled in the dust
Even though they were outnumbered and even though their cause was just.
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In Ballarat where history don't fade
They still honour the Eureka Stockade,
The miners who fought some of them even died
For their rights to them that for years they had been denied
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They have all but rid the World of Communism and given us Capitalism instead
And still millions are living in poverty and millions of children are crying to be fed
And still we have war, terrorism and famines of those will we ever be free
And the gap between the haves and the have nots only widening despite the spread of democracy.
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