Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Brothers




The butcher knows that war is all hell

which is what I don't know the anger inside

amorphous and best doling out invisible curse

mumbling at a petty breach or social lapse


I do not know how to splinter a man's head off, nor the glory

spitting the preliminaries to a girl who doesn't know

my tongue she'll never have child once I'm through

and just let her lie there bleeding and that there's never a reason


reason having nil to do with it just the joy of carving,

just the joy of thanksgiving back at camp, whole and better.


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24 comments:

  1. Vinay Leo R.March 22, 2011 at 11:22 AM

    interesting take on the Magpie :) liked the choice of your image too..

    Here's My Magpie

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  2. ClaudiaMarch 22, 2011 at 1:20 PM

    this made me swallow hard - so true - such waste and horror - and i totally agree - there's never a reason

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  3. signed...bkmMarch 22, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    War truly is a festival of Hell...its blood shed, and the drunken in their celebration is beyond all comprehension....well done...bkm

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  4. HelenMarch 22, 2011 at 2:18 PM

    Overwhelming ~ your excellent work.

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  5. hedgewitchMarch 22, 2011 at 3:03 PM

    The butcher knows, 'but hey--it's a living.' A fine poem, sparse and dark and all the better for it--especially liked the mixing of modern and ancient personas, real and mask.

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  6. Tess KincaidMarch 22, 2011 at 3:50 PM

    Hell, indeed. You describe it well. Brothers, as in "band of"?

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  7. Tumblewords:March 22, 2011 at 9:21 PM

    Darkly and brutally honest. War and killing are never glorious or beautiful. You've spilled this so well...

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  8. T F CarthickMarch 23, 2011 at 12:40 AM

    Liked the strong dark imagery.

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  9. orfeenixMarch 23, 2011 at 2:45 AM

    I read this splendid text with a loud voice.
    We are all lords of personal wars, brothers in arms.

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  10. gautami tripathyMarch 23, 2011 at 10:31 AM

    I like dark!

    the beast demands

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  11. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:21 PM

    Vinay,

    Thanks! I'll check yours out!

    Trulyfool

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  12. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:23 PM

    Claudia,

    I thought we'd agree.

    Warriors would like 'natural aggression' to be a reason, but it's not.

    TFool

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  13. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    Barbara,

    Is it possible 'post-traumatic stress' existed in the Dark Ages? It must have, yet the poetry is all about treasure and gore and inevitability.

    No PTSS, I suppose, since they just bled to death.

    Trulyfool

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  14. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:26 PM

    Helen,

    Thank you -- that's very kind.

    Trulyfool

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  15. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:27 PM

    Joy,

    It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.

    Poetry, I mean.

    Trulyfool

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  16. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:32 PM

    Tess,

    I first thought 'Band of Brothers', but quickly decided against that. The series -- which I watched a couple of times -- was nostalgic and our guys were democratically clean and it was 'the good war'.

    Too much falsehood, if I may say that, despite my buying into 'the great generation' myth.

    No. I liked the characters in B of B.

    Brothers, alone, gave me, at least, the feel of 'male'. That metallic sweat of gym lockers and taunts and chest-bumping cameraderie that needs something brutal to hide the insecurity.

    Hey. Is it time for me to die and leave all this behind yet?

    Trulyfool

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  17. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Tumblewords,

    It felt honest. I try not to be preachy, and I thought this avoided that. Thank you!

    TFool

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  18. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:35 PM

    The Fool,

    The darkness felt natural.

    Say, you're not my double, by any chance?

    T Fool

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  19. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:39 PM

    Isabelle,

    I read your French aloud to get its sounds.

    The wars I've fought have all been personal, have all been at a personal level.

    The rips and tears of 'merely' emotional interchange make me deeply fear things we call 'crime' and 'war' -- they have to be stunningly disorienting.

    Later, my sibling!

    Trulyfool

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  20. TrulyfoolMarch 23, 2011 at 11:42 PM

    Gautami,

    I linked to you just now only to find that I'd already read your poem and commented on it!

    And my comment is as I was about to say here: we see, both of us, the darkness of this.

    Perhaps writing about it discharges some of the anxiety?

    Trulyfool

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  21. Glenn ButtkusMarch 24, 2011 at 10:44 AM

    the blades are the same, sir,
    butcher and warrior, slicing
    deep into flesh, to slay or
    to eat; both consumed, both
    robbers of spirit, of essence,
    and for the Vegens, even the
    sight of you carving the pale
    white flesh of Tom T. will send
    them retching to the bowl,
    and what brutal creatures we be,
    me and thee, poetic but still
    in touch with the brutality, the
    murderous that hangs in our helix.
    I refused to go to the battlefields
    of Viet Nam, became a clerk, fought
    with my IBM selectric, still do, for
    I knew that if I had been allowed
    to take a life, many lives, I would
    like it, love it, and I would never
    be the same again.

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  22. Isabel DoyleMarch 25, 2011 at 12:03 AM

    excellent Magpie, elegantly written

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  23. TrulyfoolMarch 26, 2011 at 2:33 PM

    Glenn,

    You're right. Best to hold back. Don't want to develop a taste!

    TFool

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  24. TrulyfoolMarch 26, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    Isabel,

    Thank you for the compliment!

    I'll check out your site, now, too.

    TFool

    ReplyDelete

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