April 1st, 2007.......
Pray tell dear sir, why for thou hast named this day thusly?
Forsooth dear reader, I have so named this day as it is:
A. April Fool's Day
B. The beginning of National Poetry Month
C. Sunday Scribblings day
D. IRS month
This morning I read a few of my favorite writers submissions to Sunday Scribblings before penning my own. I already knew what my subject was, and the form it would take. After I read Tammy's scribble over at her blog "The Daily Warrior", I was humbled by her courage in facing her fears. In addition I was embolden to say what I knew I needed to say in the language that exemplified of how I felt at the time of my deepest and darkest hour.
I'm bracketing my poem with quotes that I find express succinctly man's inhumanity to man in general and war in particular.
1965
What darkness this?
Beyond all remembrance...
Darker than the inside of
An asshole!
Hiding in the olive drab
Rain dome
To smoke a fag
So charlie won't see
The glow
And shoot my fucking eye out!
AMALGAMATION DAY
Pray tell dear sir, why for thou hast named this day thusly?
Forsooth dear reader, I have so named this day as it is:
A. April Fool's Day
B. The beginning of National Poetry Month
C. Sunday Scribblings day
D. IRS month
#53 - Deepest, darkest
The prompt for this week is: "deepest, darkest."This morning I read a few of my favorite writers submissions to Sunday Scribblings before penning my own. I already knew what my subject was, and the form it would take. After I read Tammy's scribble over at her blog "The Daily Warrior", I was humbled by her courage in facing her fears. In addition I was embolden to say what I knew I needed to say in the language that exemplified of how I felt at the time of my deepest and darkest hour.
I'm bracketing my poem with quotes that I find express succinctly man's inhumanity to man in general and war in particular.
"The chain reaction of evil -- wars producing more wars -- must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The darkest of night;1965
What darkness this?
Beyond all remembrance...
Darker than the inside of
An asshole!
Hiding in the olive drab
Rain dome
To smoke a fag
So charlie won't see
The glow
And shoot my fucking eye out!
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."
- George McGovern
1965..rel, Chu Lai "NamLabels: #53 - Deepest, darkest, Sunday scribblings
posted by rel at 10:05 AM
23 Comments:
Thank you Rel for reaching back to your darkest moment, it could not have been easy. Few words that convey so much. The quotes you chose are important to remember. Thank you. xxoo
great post Rel!!we all can relate to the dark days of Viet Nam...and the aftermath of how many it destroyed after. Im talking about relationships, marriages and families. I could do a post of that all on my own and I never left the country.
Powerful stuff. Wow. Just wow.
Eternal words, strong words, words that are ignored in every generation. Words that are dismissed as old men's rambling dreams.
Thanks Rel, for reaching into your deepest, darkest.
This is one of my favorite quotes on war:
“I confess that I have no philosophy, nor piety, nor patience, no art of reflection, no theory of compensation to meet things so hideous, so cruel, and so mad, they are just unspeakably horrible and irremediable to me and I stare at them with angry and almost blighted eyes.”
-Henry James on war
war is the deepest and darkest especially for those who fight - thanks for sharing your story.
All wars are terrible and senseless but Viet Nam always seemed to me to be particularly dreadful. The human race never learns the lesson though does it? It always strikes me as particularly arrogant of us to consider ourselves to be superior to all the other creatures on this earth when we're the only ones that actually go in for the wholesale slaughter of each other!
To have been in a situation where you could die at any time is beyong my imagining. No wonder this time was your 'darkest, deepest'.
A fabulous poem, Rel.
Wow, Rel. I think you are brave to have experienced war so personally and survived...and brave to have revisited your memories from it and express them to us. Thank you.
I wish those in power, in all countries, would listen to what veterans have experienced. If they did, there might be a slim chance we would have no more wars.
Your poem speaks to today and lets us know you a bit better. Thank you.
My brother was in the war, Rel... he was never the same when he came back. He would talk about it all the time, though- sometimes you would think he was making up stuff, it was all so "unreal" sounding- but it wasn't. Not at all...
I wish my brother wouldn't have had to go there, I wish I didn't lose my uncle in WW2, I wish my dad didn't have to be in a war... they were all good men. Just like you, Rel- just like you.
Thank you for sharing this, Rel- thank you for being so brave.
Your words are so powerful because you've lived through this horrible thing that is one of the deepest and darkest tragedies humankind perpetuates upon itself. Thank you for sharing your feelings...they are mighty important.
My husband would understand this very well.
Rel, your "deepest darkest" poem made me shiver with the emotion of it. Vietnam is an infamous name with regard to war. And the quote by George McGovern says it all...unfortunately it's still happening. Iraq.
This has left me shaken and speechless. Incredible post.
rel - I just had to go away and think about this after reading it. I made myself a cup of tea, heated up a hot cross bun and thought about where I was at the time of your war experience. I was a carefree 12 year old living the happiest of lives in the New Zealand countryside.
And I also took the time to thank God that our three sons aren't living in a country that is 'at war' with another country.
But it has been in the past - NZ sent solders to Vietnam. For a long time over here it was known as the forgotten war as no-one would own up to the Vietnam veterans' sacrifice and to the effects Agent Orange and the due compensation owed them.
A small but extremely powerful poem rel. Thanks.
Incredible post, Rel.
The words are intense and the photo is incredible. Thanks for sharing.
"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in."......wise man...
tea
xo
I love the quotes. Well, it's horrible that those things had to be said, but they did. Vivid poem too.
Powerful stuff. The French in the poem is just enough to show with everyday words how the speaker feels.
Happy First Day of Poetry Month!!
Wow. Talk about dark. Very deep.
A resonating poem. The McGovern quote stunk of all the injustices of war...I will remember it.
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