Saturday, May 3, 2014

On The Eve Of War



Brenda Warren chose these words from the classic Beatles song on the White Album:


On The Eve Of War

The blackbird sat still,
her eyes upon the moment,
the very one where
I got my light wings
and the guns to go with them.
I slumped down broken
in spirit thinking
how night chases day away,
how free can just mean
dead, how I still heard
through an owl's ears at high noon.
Oh I was naked
then and chilled bone white
despite gaining strength of arms.
She would soon arise,
see her life take flight.
I was rooted like a weed
awaiting orders.

‎May ‎3, ‎2014 3:22 PM

Written for Brenda Warren's Sunday Whirl, Wordle 159
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12 comments:

  1. War is not heroic although heroes emerge. Taking part is to lose oneself to others whims for doubtful outcomes where tears are many.

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  2. This really reads like the fantasy genre, and reminds me very much of a Swedish book trilogy for young adults that starts with the book The Circle. Loads of wonderful imagery!

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  3. War can be silently played out in a bathroom or living room..i like the sense of the blackbird being watched over..maybe in that there is a reason to choose to keep breathing..i guess death is a freedom of sorts..but not for a while we hope..

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  4. Powerful, especially:

    I slumped down broken
    in spirit thinking
    how night chases day away,
    how free can just mean
    dead, how I still heard
    through an owl's ears at high noon.

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  5. Wow ... this poem brings the reader to the present moment for sure... I can feel the anticipation. Great write.

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  6. "how free can just mean dead..." This piece is intense. There's a thread of resignation in the narrator, along with focus.

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  7. Well wordled and powerful. The last two lines especially. And I'm wondering what it must be like to hear through an owl's ear at high noon.

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  8. I too, have no idea what hearing through an owl's ear must be like. Functionally though, I know I read somewhere that owls hear the tiny rustlings of very small creatures with complete accuracy. Since owls are most active at dusk and later, what they hear at noon is a mystery.

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  9. The final two lines blew me away. Awaiting orders is not easy, especially when you know in your gut that you won't like them. Perhaps being rooted like a weed helps a person survive it. We all know how tough weeds are.

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    Replies
    1. There are lines in a song go "rooted like a tree here, got the sit down can't cry oh lord I wanna die blues."

      I started there in the last two lines and shifted because tree was not banal enough.

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  10. "Free can just mean dead" really struck me.

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The chicken crossed the road. That's poultry in motion.


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