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The Lurking Bombs of France
Dark and rusted fruits of the Great War
Still lie buried like poisonous potatoes
Every year farmers collect these
Unexploded shells and ordinances
In what is known as the Iron Harvest
The trenched swamp of the Western Front
Is the grocery aisle of harboured death
A ploughshare ripping the earth
Adds another name to the wall of remembrance
One out of four
Is the estimate
Of shells dropped by the Germans
On France that did not explode
For every square metre
Reaching up from the coast to the Swiss front
A ton of bombs rained down
Sending men to oblivion
The scythe of history
Cuts still
In France
Cambodia
Mozambique
And yet
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| Very cool poem. It's nice to see someone incorporating political/ humanitarian issues in their poetry and not sound didactic or like they don't know what they're talking about. I like the lack of punctuation. Stanza 2 is the strongest. Stanza 1 is also an excellent tone and visual opening. The closing stanza is very nice and simple. |
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| The metaphor of earths apples and unexploded shells is magnificent, and the thread runs through the peice making it cultivated and well ploughed, poigniant and thought provoking. x |
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Comment by: Sophia - 2007-02-19 05:15
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I really enjoyed reading this, the weight of history on a country is fascinating and the imagery you use is great. i like these lines in particular:
The trenched swamp of the Western Front
Is the grocery aisle of harboured death
A ploughshare ripping the earth
Adds another name to the wall of remembrance |
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| This is fantastic. You must really like to write about war, huh? I'm not a huge war buff myself, but I've written a few poems about certain wars. :) I love some of your imagery - "dark and rusted fruits," "poisonous potatoes," "the grocery aisle of harboured death." They're all so unique and just breathtaking in their originality. It's fantastic. Wonderful job! |
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| Nice poem and a sad historical sentiment. You forgot to mention land mines. All in all though, I think that if I was plowing in that sort of landscape, I would be thinking metal detectors. |
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