|
Lines
by Chris Sorrenti
Loitered between sheets of peacetime luxury,
Ottawa Football filters through the plastic lips
of my digital clock radio,
bouncing off stitch lines of cotton and acrylic,
keeping me safe and warm in my bedroom.
NEWS BULLETIN:
United Nations condemns invasion of Kuwait;
Hussein promises “mother of all battles.”
A summer storm builds outside;
angels...installing more housing.
And the artillery pulls my mind away,
planting it in a helpless guilt,
muddy as the spirits of fans,
whose only concern is the postponed game.
Meanwhile,
2000 miles to the east in mid Atlantic,
another group of Canadians continue towards
a part of the world,
foreign and hostile as the dunes of Mars.
The names: Protecteur, Athabascan, Terra Nova
seem amiss,
as lines are drawn across sea, land and sky,
in a place called the Persian Gulf.
© 1990
1,410 hits as of January 2024
03/30/2008 Posted on 03/30/2008
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Kristina Woodhill on 03/30/08 at 04:40 PM Amazing how these few lines take me back to a whole other world, a different pre-war, and a vastly different result. It's presentation at this time and what isn't said, but where it takes my mind, comes through loud and clear. |
| Posted by Gregory O'Neill on 03/30/08 at 10:27 PM ....yes, memories of lines...and lies. Great reminder, Chris. Thanks. |
| Posted by Tony Young on 03/30/08 at 11:55 PM Thanks for this Chris, so true... |
| Posted by JD Clay on 03/31/08 at 03:15 AM This is a poignant piece, Chris. Talk about a rude awakening. 'Plastic lips', I love it! |
| Posted by Wendy Sparling on 03/31/08 at 05:21 AM Yes, plastic lips...what a fantastic visual. Great poem, Chris. |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 03/31/08 at 02:58 PM ...chris, this is explosive in it's description of an all-ness in world of geography...love the title and the thrust and the style...charlie |
| Posted by Charlie Morgan on 03/31/08 at 03:00 PM ...and you lace metaphor intricately as the stitches that bounce the radio waves from the plasic lips mmmmmbeautiful use...c |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 03/31/08 at 05:26 PM Well done Chris.....CharMin |
| Posted by Elizabeth Jill on 03/31/08 at 11:39 PM Gripping, this. Gripping. |
| Posted by Alisa Js on 04/01/08 at 10:03 PM It does make you wonder sometimes about the real story behind the story that is fed to us via the government/media/complex.... just a thought from across the blue.. alisa ;-) |
| Posted by Morgan D Hafele on 04/03/08 at 10:00 PM and now we say we're fighting terror, but terror only begets itself... it doesn't matter who you are or where you are from, the only victor of any war is the one who could avoid it. thanks for sharing this piece chris. |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 04/07/08 at 12:26 AM Reminds me of the words of Jesus. There will be wars and rumors of wars but the end is not yet. The Prince of Peace stands waiting!
A poignant reflection on the human condition. |
|
