A lesson learned in the army <br />Which, I’m sure, is not out of date <br />Was neither soothing or balmy <br />But was how to “hurry and wait” <br /> <br />We waited in lines for our chow <br />Spam really not worth waiting for <br />Would never wait that long now <br />Don’t know why we waited before <br /> <br />We waited in lines for our shots <br />From needles as long as the lines <br />Our arms looked like bloody ink blots <br />Red grapes growing out on their vines <br /> <br />We wanted escape from the brass <br />We needed release from their clutch <br />We waited in lines for that pass <br />That pass we needed so much <br /> <br />We waited in lines for inspections <br />Inspections of all different sorts <br />The doctors looked for infections <br />Or perhaps some imported warts <br /> <br />To go to the bathroom we waited <br />The army then called them latrines <br />If you think we weren’t frustrated <br />You can tell that to the marines <br /> <br />The private awaits his one striping <br />The P F C waits for his two <br />The corporal awaits, always griping <br />Complaining his third stripe is due <br /> <br />The wait that was most universal <br />The wait that loomed very large <br />Was the only wait not perverse-al <br />The wait for our army discharge<br /><br />Stanley Cooper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/waiting-13/
