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Combat

by Julie Adams

This is war?
shellshocked soldier sways
in bomb's breeze
but is still
standing

face paint
camoflages tear tra ck s
pain, the weapon
of choice
of defense
of combat
hides in bushes
unspoken

the ambush
anticipated
nets have been set
land mines unsteady
soldier steps beyond
enemy lines...

..."aaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!"

08/10/2002

Posted on 08/10/2002
Copyright © 2024 Julie Adams

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Rhyana Fisher on 01/29/10 at 11:33 AM

last two lines don't really work for me here, not enough direction as to where this is supposed to be ending. if this is literal war and the next to last line is representative of the first shot/death, then the last ending exclamation mark reads a feel of fun and games/excitement into it which isn't supported by the rest of the piece. gives me a slap in the face type effect but i'm not entirely sure if it's in the direction you were intending. punctuation that fits a grimmer tone might work a little better, esp since you don't utilize much in the way of punctuation in earlier stanzas. (which really makes that exclamation mark stand out in odd ways.)

if it's a relationship metaphor, that's probably an on target reaction, in which case it might be nice to drop a few more clues farther up.

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