Poems of Life, Love, and the Military

By Tom Dile

This book of poems is about Life, Love and the Military. All of these poems come from the personal experiences of the author through many years of living, loving and serving his country. It is my hope that it not only brings you joy, but may inspire someone else to begin writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664189935

Tom Dile

Tom Dile was born in 1956 in Coshocton, Ohio, where I still reside. My poetry writing started in 1968 or 1969 with a poem assignment in Junior High School at Three Rivers Junior High in Roscoe, Ohio. This lead to over 300 poems covering every aspect of life. My first poem: My dad came home the other nite, His face wasn't very bright, As you can guess, The cars a mess, And now he wants my bike. My career in the Army started when I was young. My Great-grandpa was in World War One and my Grandpa was in World War Two. I remember listening to the few stories they would share of the wars. That set my course to join the Army also. As a Senior in high school I joined the Delayed Entry Program. This was in December of 1973. Six months later, in June of 1974, and three weeks after graduation from River View High School, I left for active duty.

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Copyright © 2021 by Tom Dile.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/23/2021

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

LIFE

A New Arrival

About The Night

Be Your Own Man

Believe in Me

Chasing The Sun on Interstate 68

Chasing The Winds

Daddy’s Girl

Escaping from the Memories

Everday Hero’s

Friends To Return To

From The Mountain to The Slime

He Cares

He’s A Real Groovy Cat

Hell

Hold The Hand of Christ

How Old Ought I To Be

I Am Only One

I Need to Escape this Place

I’m Sorry

I’ve Got to Work Tomorrow

Keep on Climbing

Last Year

Let Us Return to the Highway

Lonely Nights

Lonely Times for Lonely Men

Look Out World

Make It Your Goal

My Grandparents are Gone

My Way is Rare

No Remorse – No Schedule

Off to See The Shrink

On That Fatefull Day of September

Past, Present, Future

Poor Little Children

Problems Galore

Salvation from A Stranger

Set A Goal Have A Dream

Sleeping in the Left Lane

Solitude

Suicide

Taking Off

Team Sports

Thank You

Age Of Innocence

The Dove

The Eyes of Death

The Friends at My Party

The Kiss

The Loss

The Past Present and Future

The Shadow of Death

The Sky is Like Life

The Working Mans Day

This is A Warning

Tribute to the All Night Café

We Wonder Why

What Did The Mouse Say

What No Parent Wants to Hear

When Death Occurs

When Moods Within are Blue

You Will Be Greatly Missed

Yes, I Cheated

LOVE

A Mother’s Sixth Sense

Another Star

Dead Love

Does She Know

Get Her Out of Your Head

God Help Me

Happy Together

I Celebrated For You

I Don’t Have to Tell Her

I Let My Pen Do My Talking

I Love Her So

I Met The Stranger

I Want, Need and Love You

If I Woke Up Every Morning

I’ll Keep Her

I’m Coming Back

In The Early Morning

It All Means The Same

It Take Two

Like A Deer

Just A Dream

Just Painful Dreams

Like A Mermaid

Like Shallow Water

Looking Back

Lost Loves

Love Or Freedom

Love Overcomes All

Love Saga

Many A Man

Memories

My Child from Above

My Door is Open

My Greatest Day

My Living Doll

My Love Outweights The Pain

My Woman Sleeps

Not Quite Love

Now I Remember

Thank You for Being You

Now I See

Once and Still

One Sided Love

Parents

Picture of Missing You

Seeing Her Again

She And Time

She Called It Quits

These Roses

The First Love

THE LOVE MYTH

The Power of Love

They Just Wait

This is Love

When We Open Our Eyes

You and Me

Who Am I to Say

You Are My Everything

You Have Made Me Complete

You Will Be Mine

You

Your Wedding Day

Your Committment

MILITARY

The Alamo

The Farmer

The Blood, Sweat and Tears of War

The Father, The Deserter

The Rocker Inn

Anti-War Protestors Unite

That Dear John Letter

Away

Going to War

Is It A Dream

Waiting Our Turn

Will I See The End

Distant Thunder

War

We Went to War

Honor Their Sacrifice

The Old Soldier

Combat Veterans

The Veteran

About The Author

LIFE

LIFE.jpg

A NEW ARRIVAL

Y ou can always tell

When a woman’s face is aglow

                    That she is with child

                    And she’s very much in the know.

                    And the man’s eyes gleam

                    Each time he looks at his woman

                    The pride shows throughout

                    Of his deep love to be her man.

                    Whether it’s the first

                    Or in a long line of children

                    The look does not change

                    The glow, the gleam, for each of them.

ABOUT THE NIGHT

T here’s gonna be trouble tonight.

For the vampire will be out to bite.

                Anyone from preachers to thief

                With his two big long teeth.

                So if I were you I’d hide

                Or take a faraway ride.

                And if you choose the later,

                Where you went wouldn’t matter.

                Just as long as you stayed away

                Until early the next day.

                For during the day the vampire sleeps

                And during the night, onto you he leaps.

                So if you’re the one who receives his bite,

                Remember, I warned you about the night!

BE YOUR OWN MAN

D o your own thing

                               Live your own life

                               Fly your own wing

                               Live without strife.

                               Go by what you say

                               Not by what others think.

                               Live day for day

                               And week for week.

                               Be your own man

                               Do what you will

                               And everything you can.

                               Master your own skill

                               One of your own choosing.

                               Stand up and say I am I

                               Not afraid of losing

                               And not afraid to die.

                               I am my own man.

BELIEVE IN ME

B elieve in me

For I am life

                       I am the given

                       As well as the taker

                       Of everything alive.

                       Believe in me

                       For I am death itself

                       It is only I

                       Who decides when you die

                       Whether poor or of wealth.

                       Believe in me

                       For I am love

                       As well as happiness

                       And also sadness

                       I’m all, from here to Heaven above.

                       Believe in me

                       I’m all, from a dirt clod

                       To a bar of gold

                       Everything new and old

                       For I am God.

                       Believe in me

                       I am your Savoir

                       I died for you sins

                       So you might live again

                       A life of pure.

                       Believe in me.

CHASING THE SUN

ON INTERSTATE 68

C hasing the sun on interstate sixty-eight

Gonna’ be home before it’s too late.

                Doing ninety, flying low

                Down the Cumberlands, into the suns glow.

                Will I or the sun win the battle, I don’t know

                But I’ve only got three hundred miles to go.

                Chasing the sun on interstate sixty-eight

                Gonna be home before it’s too late.

                The gas gauge is reading red

                And I can hear the call of my bed.

                Holdin’ it at eighty-five

                Down the Eastern Continental Divide

                Chasing the sun on interstate sixty-eight

                Gonna’ be home before it’s too late.

                The sun is sinking fast

                But I’ve got a full tank of gas.

                So even tho’ the sun is gonna’ win

                I’ll soon be holding my baby agin’.

                Chasing the sun on interstate sixty-eight

                Gonna’ be home before it’s too late.

CHASING THE WINDS

A ll through my life

 I have been chasing the winds.

                       Not knowing why,

                       How or where to begin.

                       Yet still chasing.

                       Chasing the four winds.

                       Going after illusive dreams.

                       Never stopping,

                       Never tiring although it would seem

                       I’d stop chasing.

                       Chasing the winds,

                       Going after loves that’s not there.

                       Wanting a life

                       With someone to which I can share

                       The dreams I chase.

                       All through my life

                       I have been chasing the winds.

                       Not knowing why,

                       How or even where to begin.

                       Yet still chasing.

DADDY’S GIRL

T o a father a son is special.

One to carry the family name.

                Someone rough with whom he can wrestle.

                To fish beside and play a ball game.