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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War is not heroic although heroes emerge. Taking part is to lose oneself to others whims for doubtful outcomes where tears are many.
ReplyDeleteThis 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!
ReplyDeleteWar 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..
ReplyDeletePowerful, especially:
ReplyDeleteI 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.
Wow ... this poem brings the reader to the present moment for sure... I can feel the anticipation. Great write.
ReplyDelete"how free can just mean dead..." This piece is intense. There's a thread of resignation in the narrator, along with focus.
ReplyDeleteWell 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteThe 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.
ReplyDeleteThere are lines in a song go "rooted like a tree here, got the sit down can't cry oh lord I wanna die blues."
DeleteI started there in the last two lines and shifted because tree was not banal enough.
Spectacular!
ReplyDelete"Free can just mean dead" really struck me.
ReplyDelete