Time for Poetics in the dVerse Poets Pub. Dora asks us to consider "margins" ~ compose a poem that reflects our thoughts. My book club read Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried" several months ago ~ a collection of short stories about the Vietnam War that certainly made an impact on all of us.
Crossing Over
there is no chalk line in the jungle
just green that bleeds into green
boundaries sketched by the crack of rifle fire
shouts muffled by wet, heavy air
they said the Tet Offensive was a dividing line
between who they were and who they became
kids with baseball gloves back home
men who had to kill to breathe
margins, boundaries
men brave enough to cross over
O'Brien is an amazing writer.
ReplyDeleteHelen, The stories must have been something for them to linger so long in your psyche. So many lines crossed, none of their own making, and you drive home the pathos, the courage, the tremendous change that overcomes boys in that environment, especially with "baseball gloves back home." That was was a tragedy that should never have happened. As are all wars.
ReplyDeleteThis strikes close to home, Helen. I recently got back in touch with a cousin I'd not spoken with in at least fifty years. We talked on the phone for an hour, reminiscing. He'd been in the service, in Viet Nam. I asked about an old high school friend, who was brilliant in school and happened to tangle with the wrong teacher in the middle of our senior year. He was kicked out of school and entered the army. Turns out he served two turns in Viet Nam and as my cousing said, was taught to kill, self-medicated to be immune to the pain, then became a mecenary. So very very sad. Who ever said "war is hell" was right on the mark. I must jot down the name of the book you mention. Have you read The Women yet? It's about the women who served as nurses in the Viet Nam War. An incredible book. I highly recomment it.
ReplyDeleteVery well done, Helen. The margins of war stay with us in our memories forever!
ReplyDeleteA must read I think....your stunning verse serves as a superb book review. Great start with green bleeding into green and the Tet offensive line. They were very young guys on average compared to many conflicts.
ReplyDeleteThe opening lines to your poem grabbed me, Helen, and you conveyed danger so clearly in ‘boundaries sketched by the crack of rifle fire’, and tragedy in ‘the kids with baseball gloves back home / the men who had to kill to breath’. War blurs the margins.
ReplyDeleteHelen, this is such a powerful, poignant poem that portrays what men have to face and endure for the sake of others ... sigh ...
ReplyDeleteThat war impacted so many. The lines "the kids with baseball gloves back home / the men who had to kill to breathe" are so powerful. I imagine those fresh-cheeked lads, just out of high school, plunged into an unimaginable nightmare.
ReplyDeleteI so wonder how it impacted those who had to fight that war... nothing really good came out ot it I believe... killing someone else impacts you..
ReplyDeleteThis is so powerful and poignant, Helen. Hugs Robbie
ReplyDeleteO'Brien's book is great for showing how much we need those boundaries and margins, and when they disappear -- as they did in Vietnam -- retuning vets can't tell where they went or if the war ended. It's all vague and dreamlike (or nightmarish). Great poem, Helen.
ReplyDeletePowerful and striking verse. Thank you for penning this.
ReplyDeleteYes this was so powerful, thank you for sharing it
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, what a deeply moving piece!
ReplyDeleteHelen, this is such a compelling, moving write. Wars are merciless.
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