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The 90s

I somehow missed the nineties
As far as pop culture was concerned
I spent a lot of it overseas
Watching as the Balkans burned

I had learned Russian for the Army
But the Russian Bear was no longer wild
About the time they reunited Germany
I gained a brand new wife and child

With the fall of the Soviet Union
I thought the world might finely be sane
Then I cross trained into Serbo-Croatian
As Yugoslavia went up in flame

The Army was not a free ride
I did several deployment rotations
Monitoring war crimes like genocide
Or in Macedonia with the United Nations

The nineties ended quietly
At least from what I remember
I was focused then on family
Until that fatal 11 September

Copyright © Mark J. Halliday | Year Posted 2015

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Vee Bdosa Date: 6/25/2016 12:44:00 PM SARAJEVO ROOTS AND LEAVES I have over 50 of my ow poems, you can do a search on Soup for SARAJEVO and will see them. Poetry like this is what I need, this is NOT AN E-BOOK, it will be a real paper soft cover book and very high jprinting quality, the best. Right now payment for each poem will be at least 1 copy of the book maybe 2, email me veebdosa@aol.com if you know of any others, pass this along. This is a true labor of love for an area of the world that is sadly, about to erupt again. Login to Reply Mark J. Halliday Date: 6/30/2016 11:52:00 PM Hope it doesn't erupt again. The world has enough troubles just with Middle East and Ukraine. Thanks for commenting. I don't really have any good poems about the Balkans, sadly. Spent a lot of TDY time at Bad Aibling Station in Bavaria supporting troops in the Balkans theater.

Vee Bdosa Date: 6/25/2016 12:38:00 PM I been to Ft Mead twice, as well, both times I served as Military mayou of the Meade Heights community. I am publishing a book of poetry, maybe some blogs, I am calling SARAJEVE ROOTSD AND LEAVES, attempting to explain how the inborn hate of the area is rooted in their lifestyl, and cycles from the roots of the tree up through the trump and leaves,then the leaves die and it all cycles and repeats. I need some poetry. veebdosa@aol.com Login to Reply

Daniel Schack Date: 5/29/2015 6:08:00 AM the 90s was a crazy timefor me in my late 20s both a happy and unhappy ride. nice poem. see and comment mine on poetrysoup. be well. daniel schack Login to Reply Mark J. Halliday Date: 6/30/2016 11:47:00 PM Sorry I didn't see your reply last year. Appreciate your comments.

Logan Holliday Date: 4/7/2015 4:20:00 PM Being a young child while all of this was going on it is very interesting to read about what was happening in the world in an artistic format... Really enjoyed the write- Logan Login to Reply Mark J. Halliday Date: 4/8/2015 1:32:00 PM Thanks for commenting. True what I said at the beginning of the poem. I'm hard-pressed to come up with a pop song I remember from the 90s (or after, for that matter).

Peter Lewis Holmes Date: 2/14/2015 2:44:00 AM a nice realist write...carry on! ...thanks for the feedback...Peter Login to Reply

Rhonda Johnson-Saunders Date: 2/13/2015 5:08:00 PM As we get older, we realize the world will never be sane...thanks for sharing some of your history. I graduated in 1990 and remember it as a restless time of change as you describe. You didn't miss it, you were just incredibly busy serving our country! Hus, Rhonda Login to Reply Mark J. Halliday Date: 2/13/2015 11:22:00 PM The 90s were kinda crazy, but if picked another modern decade, it would probably be just as bad. Something interesting--the Mormon founding prophet Smith gave a prophecy about war back around 1840 predicting in fairly accurate detail how the Civil War would happen, and how the world would progress (of digress) from there. He was almost 'spot on'.