By adewpearl
Some eyes
feast on wonders,
but some have seen what can't
be seen and still desire to keep
their sight.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a poem with a syllable structure of 2/4/6/8/2.
The title serves as a significant sixth line and there is usually a downward turn in either the fourth or final line. I have commented to several reviewers that my Halloween poems are in fun as they are about horrors that don't actually exist. Unfortunately, the world has horrors that do exist every day of the year. Many people have witnessed the horrors of war, things no person should ever have to see. Many live every day in poverty where they see themselves and their loved ones become living skeletons. Children live in neighborhoods where they see drive by shootings and walk past crack houses. Some have survived rape or live with domestic violence. The list is varied and long. Theirs are not make-believe horrors that are over the second one walks out of the haunted house. This poem is about them, each one a modern-day Oedipus. Oedipus is a King from ancient Greek tragedy who unwittingly married his own mother and then gouged his eyes out when he learned the woman he had seen with eyes of lust was no other than his mother. |
By adewpearl
Raise praise
to sacrifice,
to storied lives laid down,
to heroes turned to corpses, sing
your odes.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a poem of five lines with a syllable structure of 2/4/6/8/2. The title is considered a meaningful sixth line, and in this poem there is a downward turn in the fourth line in the tradition of the cinquain's creator, Adelaide Crapsey.
Thanks to Catmal, whose artwork depicts the ruins of Sligo Castle in Ireland, destroyed in the early 1300's in local Irish wars. This poem is not about that battle but about all wars. Odes, lyric poems that glorify and praise, were originally sung. |
By adewpearl
We hurl
our stones of scorn
at sinners cloaked in shame,
but duck if judgment ever calls
our name.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. There is usually an ironic or dark turn in the fourth or fifth line.
In John 8:7 Jesus confronts a crowd of men about to stone a woman to death for the sin of adultery. When he invites only those who are without sin to carry out their sentence, one by one the men lay down their stones and leave. "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone..." |
By adewpearl
Sun sprayed
on each petal
leaves sparkles of glitter
until warmth withdraws and blossoms
wither.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. In the tradition of Adelaide Crapsey, 1878-1914,
I have used a title that is not casual, but works effectively as a sixth line which adds important information. Also in the tradition of most of her poems, this cinquain features a tragic turn in the final two lines. Crapsey's cinquains were metrical and usually used iambic meter. While mine is metrical, it employs iambic and anapestic feet. |
By adewpearl
Grabbing
for the brass ring
can yield a high return -
my fingers clasped but only caught
iron.
| Author Notes |
Carousels in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries often featured a chance for those sitting on the outside circle to reach out and grab a ring. Most of the rings were iron, but at least one was brass. If a lucky person grabbed a brass ring, he or she could exchange it for a prize. This is the origin of the phrase, Grab for the brass ring, which means to live life to the fullest.
The cinquain is a poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. In the tradition of Adelaide Crapsey, who originated the form in the 19th Century, it often features a downward turn in the final or penultimate line. There is always a title, which should act as a significant sixth line. |
By adewpearl
Like tea
is best brewed slow,
for flavor comes when steeped,
our wisest thoughts are seldom reaped
in haste.
| Author Notes | The cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. The title is considered a significant sixth line, and in the style of the form's inventor, Adelaide Crapsey, there is usually a downward turn in the fourth or fifth line. |
By adewpearl
No bang
upon a pan
No bite of sauerkraut
No black-eyed peas will keep my bad
luck out.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. In the traditional form devised by Adelaide Crapsey, there is a downward turn in the fourth or fifth line. Also in the tradition of Crapsey, the title is considered a significant sixth line.
There are MANY superstitions associated with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - all about warding off evil spirits and bad luck or assuring prosperity and good luck. Banging pots and pans at midnight is one I first learned from Italian-American neighbors, but when I looked it up it also appears to be popular in many places from Iran to Scandinavia. While eating cabbage with ham is a more common food tradition, I live near Pennsylvania Dutch country where pork and sauerkraut are considered mandatory to insure good luck for the new year. Black-eyed peas and ham hocks are a Southern tradition. |
By adewpearl
I wrote
a check today,
and, noticing the date,
put down my pen till I could say
a prayer.
| Author Notes |
I was at a junior high school assembly watching a comedy basketball team perform when the news came. Where were you?
If you are too young to remember, this was like my generation's September 11th. I'm discovering some people don't realize what this date signifies - it is the anniversary of the assassination of U.S President John F. Kennedy. |
By adewpearl
They sang
hallelujahs
as smoke rose from each flame -
a people's ruin fashioned in
God's name.
| Author Notes |
The goal of the Union army's 300 mile march to the sea in 1864 was to destroy the South's capacity to wage war, both physically and psychologically. On November 15 the march commenced as General William Tecumsah Sherman's Union troops
left Atlanta in flames. In his memoirs Sherman would recall: "Behind us lay Atlanta, smouldering and in ruins, the black smoke rising high in the air. Some band struck up the anthem of "John Brown's soul goes marching on." The men caught up the strain, and never before or since have I heard the chorus of "Glory Glory Hallelujah" done with more spirit." How many wars before and since the American Civil War have convinced their participants that destroying people's homes and killing their neighbors is something to celebrate because God supports them and even demands it of them? It is a sobering thought. |
By adewpearl
Tall trees
above slate stones,
drop leaves on this cold ground
to wrap our sons in warmth so they
sleep sound.
By adewpearl
Is truth
obscenity?
Must life be sanitized,
uncensored bits a blight upon
our eyes?
| Author Notes |
On October 3, 1957, beat poet Allen Ginsberg's Howl and Other Poems was ruled not obscene after his fellow poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti was placed on trial for publishing it. This brilliant and seminal work is an indictment of the conformism and materialism of the 50's and a celebration of many of that generation's iconoclasts and outcasts. Its use of "dirty" words and references to sex led to its seizure by customs officials, but in a widely publicized trial, the judge ruled the poem was of "redeeming social importance."
Today, October 3, is the final day of Banned Books Week for 2009. This annual event is sponsored by such organizations as the American Library Association to draw attention to the fact that censorship is still thriving - while the government does not ban books the way it used to, many school districts and libraries cave under pressure to ban some of the best books ever written because they are "dirty" or sacrilegious or morally offensive in some way to some group. To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Huckleberry Finn, Lord of the Flies, James and the Giant Peach, Death of a Salesman and my favorite ever book As I Lay Dying are among the many, many books that have been banned. Google Banned Books to find lists of great classics to read and enjoy one in honor of Allen Ginsberg!!! |
By adewpearl
The truth
can set us free
like slaves burst from their chains,
or pierce the soul like caustic
acid rain.
| Author Notes |
Adelaide Crapsey, creator of the cinquain, was born on September 9, 1878 and died just 36 years later in 1914. During the course of her brief life, she endured her father's conviction of heresy after which he was stripped of his Episcopal priesthood, and the deaths of a brother and sister. The final several years of her life she was sickly and finally diagnosed with tuberculosis. It is no surprise, therefore, that most of her poems are dark in nature, and that one of the characteristics of her cinquains is a downward turn in mood in the final one or two lines. The cinquain usually follows the syllable pattern of 2/4/6/8/2, but in several of her cinquains Crapsey deviated from that pattern in the final lines, as I do in this poem. I include here one of the cinquains in which she does not adhere to the most common pattern:
The Guarded Wound If it Were lighter touch Than petal of flower resting On grass, oh still too heavy it were, Too heavy! Acid rain is rain caused by emissions of sulfur, nitrogen and carbon into the atmosphere that turn rain acidic and harmful to the soil, vegetation, animals, humans and even building materials and monuments. It is caused mainly by emissions from power plants, factories and motor vehicles. Caustic can mean having the property of corroding things, the way acid rain will corrode a gravestone, or it can mean biting and sarcastic, as in speech. One other aspect of Crapsey's cinquains is the use of the title as a significant sixth line -the title Brutal Honesty and this reference to the sometimes caustic nature of honesty are my commentary on the most negative aspects of what some people think is always a virtue. John 8:32 - And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. |
By adewpearl
The day
he hopped aboard
that train on northbound track
he carried freedom's sword and ne'er
looked back
| Author Notes |
A cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. The title is considered a significant sixth line.
Twenty year old Frederick Douglass, a slave in Maryland, had made escape attempts before, but on September 3, 1838, he finally succeeded when he boarded a train North while disguised as a free black seaman. In the years leading to the Civil War, he became one of the most eloquent and well-known voices for abolition, writing books about his experience as a slave and delivering hundreds of speeches that stirred others to freedom's cause. He became known as the lion of the abolition movement and also championed causes such as Women's Suffrage and Irish Home Rule. After the War he continued to fight for the rights of African Americans and all oppressed peoples. If the pen and the spoken word are indeed, mightier than the sword, he was carrying the sword of freedom with him that fateful day when he made his way beyond the boundaries of slavery. |
By adewpearl
The sun
provides their life,
so to life's source they turn,
while we so often hang our heads
and yearn.
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a poem in five lines with symbols of 2/4/6/8/2. The title provides a significant sixth line, and there is usually a turn in the fourth or the final line.
Sunflowers are heliotropic, meaning they follow/turn toward the direction of the sun during the course of the day. |
By adewpearl
Who knows
why whales compose
their songs that swell the sea?
Some things, methinks, are best left
mystery.
| Author Notes |
Most five line cinquains follow the syllable pattern of 2/4/6/8/2, but among the 28 extant cinquains of Adelaide Crapsey, the 19th Century originator of the form, there are several that deviate slightly from that pattern, most often following the modified pattern of 2/4/6/7/3. This poem follows that pattern.
methink is an archaic word that means - it seems to me. I have chosen to use it here for two reasons: first, the internal rhyme with things, and second, the lighthearted feel it adds to a whimsical poem. In researching whale songs, I found that while scientists have studied the reasons for their occurrence, nobody has a definitive answer. Speculations range from mating ritual to navigation device to a kind of sonar to find other whales. Some even wonder if it is a purely aesthetic song. |
By adewpearl
In years
to come, what will
the heirs to our world say
about our legacy and what
they pay?
| Author Notes |
The cinquain is a poem of five lines in syllables of 2/4/6/8/2. Traditionally there is often a downward turn in the fourth or fifth line, as is found in many of the cinquains of Adelaide Crapsy, the 19th Century originator of the form. Also, traditionally, the title serves as a significant sixth line.
I have deliberately left the specific aspect of our legacy open in this poem. I chose a fanart picture listed under pollution, but this could also be about how our future generations will look upon and pay for our decisions about war, education, poverty....the list goes on. What will be the cost to our great grandchildren for our actions today? |
By adewpearl
Do choirs'
triumphant songs
proclaiming heroes' feats
take heed the dead who cannot sing
along?
| Author Notes |
a cinquain is a poem of five lines with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. Traditionally, in the style of the form's 19th Century creator, Adelaide Crapsey, the poem takes a downward turn in either the fourth or fifth line. Also, traditionally, the title is considered a significant sixth line.
A Pyrrhic Victory is a victory won at too great a cost, named after Pyrrhus of Epirus, who defeated the Romans at Asculum in 279 BC but sustained unacceptably heavy losses in doing so. |
By adewpearl
A bridge
that spans the sea
may seem a daunting task,
but this I'd build if only you
should ask.
If you
would build this bridge
to cross vast seas to me,
there is no vow I would withhold
from thee.
By adewpearl
Each step
in a steep climb
pursuing the summit
moves up despite peril we might
plummet.
| Author Notes | The cinquan is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2. Typically it takes a downward turn in the fourth or the fifth line. The title usually serves as a significant sixth line. |
By adewpearl
A mute
calliope,
denied its dulcet voice,
retains its luster but to what
avail?
| Author Notes |
Cinquains are poems of five lines with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2.
Fan Art had no pictures of calliopes. If you've never seen one, you should google them because they are quite beautiful. The calliope, invented in the mid 19th Century, is also known as a steam organ, and its series of whistles looks much like a small version of a church pipe organ. Calliopes were often featured in circuses and on steamboats. The music you usually hear on a carousel is calliope music. Calliope is pronounced in four syllables ka LIE oh PEE At Youtube you can hear and see great calliope music by typing in Calliope Music. |
By adewpearl
Before
the olive branch
is offered up in peace,
suspicions harbored first must find
release.
| Author Notes | The cinquain is a five line poem with syllable count of 2/4/6/8/2 and characteristically features a turn in either the fourth or fifth line. |
By adewpearl
A mind
shut tightly closed
will never find the truth
if all it hears is what it first
supposed.
| Author Notes | A cinquain is a poem of five lines that follows the syllable pattern of 2/4/6/8/2. |
By adewpearl
Fifty
years of absence,
no warmth of love's embrace --
I close my eyes in sleep and see
her face.
| Author Notes |
May 28,2009 will be the fiftieth anniversary of the death of my mother, Sylvia Theresa Nelsen Sibel. This has been on my mind.
In the cinquain form, the title is considered a significant sixth line - in this case, it is most significant. |
By adewpearl
To ask
but not yet know --
this, the journey taken --
never certain we are not
mistaken.
| Author Notes |
When Adelaide Crapsey first devised the cinquain, she wrote down no rules for the form. Over the years, others noticed that a majority of her fewer than thirty cinquains followed the pattern of 2/4/6/8/2 though several did not. From this observation somebody decided the 2/4/6/8/2 pattern should be a rule. (I suppose because people like things that are easily quantifiable) However, I believe, like Crapsey, that not all poetry works out each time to fit a rigidly set pattern. I have chosen to have my final lines in this poem read 7/3 instead of 8/2. It is a conscious choice, not an oversight in syllable counting. Below is just one of Crapsey's cinquains that break her own pattern - google her if you want to read all 28 of her cinquains to see others that break the pattern.
Fate Defied As it were tissue of silver I'll wear, O fate, thy grey, and go mistily radiant, clad like the moon. |
By adewpearl
Before
the empty tomb
with death left in defeat,
Christ knelt before His men to wash
their feet.
| Author Notes |
This poem is written to commemorate Maundy Thursday, the day before the crucifixion. On this day Jesus and his disciples shared the last supper, which is now honored by the sacrament of holy communion. After the supper, Jesus insisted He wash the feet of his disciples, a dirty job usually done by the lowest of lowly servants. His men protested until He made it clear it WAS going to happen.
When Jesus was born, He was born in a lowly stable and worshipped by shepherds, then considered one of the lowest status jobs. Born in humility, He died in humility before rising to sit by God's side. Jesus' washing of the feet is a ritual meant to remind us there is no act of compassion we can perform for our fellow man that is below us. The first commandment is to honor God. The second commandment is the Golden Rule. Maundy Thursday reminds us of that at least once a year. "Maundy" derives from the Latin word Mandatum, commandment, or I command - for Jesus said when washing His disciples' feet - A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you." |
By adewpearl
With palms,
the multitude
declared this Man their King,
but could not know the victory
He'd bring.
| Author Notes | Happy Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week in the Christian Calendar. When the people lined the streets and hailed Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem days before his crucifixion, they truly had no idea how great would be Christ's triumph over death just days in the future or what implications that victory would have for their lives. I thought about writing a poem this morning about last night's North Korean missile launch, but I just didn't have the heart to right now. This morning is my favorite day of the Christian calendar, and so I feel called on to write this second poem in honor of this joyous day. Happy Palm Sunday to one and all, because even if you are not Christian, I know you share with me a belief in the triumph of good over evil and the power of love and compassion. Religion should not divide us - to do good, to be kind, to live in peace with all - there is no religion that owns the rights to those things we all strive to do and be. |
By adewpearl
The choice:
to sing along
to karaoke songs,
or improvise the music for
my life.
| Author Notes | "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." Henry David Thoreau |
By adewpearl
Drought dries
Sonoran sands
while heat consumes the skies,
yet tumbleweeds still spread their seeds
and thrive.
| Author Notes |
The Sonora desert is the desert that covers southern Arizona, northern Mexico and southeastern California. Tucson, Arizona is a place I used to spend the summers and Christmases with my stepmother, who moved there because of her emphysema. I fell in love with the desert immediately.
The tall saguaro cacti in the illustration grow only in this desert and are my absolute favorite plants. I started out writing a poem about them, but it wasn't working, so I switched to tumbleweed, also all over the Sonoran desert. I'll write about saguaro later, promise. Tumbleweed spread their seeds by breaking off from the root of the plant and dropping their seeds as they tumble in the wind. I love them, too. |
By adewpearl
Cobalt
tumbled sea glass --
How gracious is our God
to take our trash and give it back
as art?
| Author Notes |
Sea glass or beach glass is simply shards of trash, like bottles and jars, that end up in the ocean where they are broken and tumbled into beautiful pieces of smooth, frosted glass that is actively sought after by beachcombers and collectors. There are dealers, jewelry sellers and associations of collectors listed on the net. One association even has an annual festival.
As with any collectible, rarity is key. Cobalt shards, typically made from early Milk of Magnesia, Bromo-Seltzer and Vicks Vapo-Rub bottles, are considered rare, amounting to one in only a few hundred pieces of sea glass found. |
By adewpearl
If words
of poetry
will be my legacy,
I choose to write what celebrates
this life.
By adewpearl
March winds
that stir the air
to whip my reddened face,
serve also to remind me
I'm alive.
| Author Notes |
While people tend to make hard and fast rules about poetic forms, those rules often miss the mark in their attempts to quantify. For instance, Adelaide Crapsey, who first devised the cinquain, never wrote down rules for her poems. Over the years people have noticed that most of them have a 2/4/6/8/2 construction and decided this should become a rule. Here are two of Crapsey's cinquains that do not follow this rule:
The Guarded Wound If it were lighter touch than petal of flower resting on grass, oh still too heavy it were, too heavy. Fate Defied As it were tissue of silver I'll wear, O fate, thy grey, and go mistily radiant, clad like the moon. I have made a deliberate decision to place the word "I'm" on the final line instead of the line above it. I realize this makes it 2/4/6/7/3, but if Crapsey's original cinquains make such modifications, so can I. |
By adewpearl
Erect
at water's edge --
their stance a mystery.
Lawn ornaments are best when brought
to life.
| Author Notes |
When I discovered one of my favorite writers on FanStory is also an artist on FanArt, I decided to check out her art portfolio so I could write a poem about one of her artworks.
I was delighted to find this flamingo painting. I looked up flamingos to see if there is any reason they stand on one leg, as that has always fascinated me, but while there are theories, what it boils down to is nobody really knows. I also love tacky lawn ornaments, and flamingos are among the most popular. Hence, the inspiration for that reference in this piece. |
By adewpearl
Black disc
in morning sky --
the sun obscured from sight,
until the light comes shining bright
again.
| Author Notes |
shining bright or shining back
Dear fellow writers, I'd really appreciate if you'd weigh in on which you like better as I keep going back and forth. :-) Brooke |
By adewpearl
I picked
some daffodils
to fill my empty vase --
as if cut flowers could a void
replace.
By adewpearl
Which date
will come to be
the anniversary
of day I gratefully drew one
last breath?
| Author Notes |
May 28, 2009 will be the 50th anniversary of my mother's death. It has always been one of the most significant dates of each year for me. I've often thought that some day there will be a date like that in my children's lives - the anniversary of my death, and yet there is no way for me to know what that most important date in my life and their lives will be. It's just one of those things I ponder from time to time.
I expect the last two lines of this poem, especially the word "gratefully" will have some ambiguity for readers - and will be read one way or the other depending on any particular reader's frame of mind and outlook on life. |
By adewpearl
To ask
is not to know,
but in the search for truth,
each question gives who seeks, the chance
to grow.
By adewpearl
Live life
as if a prayer --
with gratitude each day,
reach out your hand to those who need
your care.
By adewpearl
Her eyes
with tears would well
when childish sorrows came.
Her far more stoic brother took
the blame.
| Author Notes | My children both delight in reminding me that when they were small I was such a sucker for my daughter's trembling lips and teary eyes - she could get away with anything and blame it on her older, taller, less tearful brother, and I would buy her story. Thank goodness her brother remembers this with good cheer - most likely because I was not much at punishing the one I thought guilty either. I confess, I was a pushover mom. :-) |
By adewpearl
He held
the kite string tight --
how could a boy so small
design to reach such heights? Then it
took flight.
| Author Notes | My son became quite an accomplished stunt kiter as he grew older - but his first efforts with much more modest kites are the ones I remember the best. The look on the face of a small child who has sent a kite soaring is beyond joy. |
By adewpearl
| Author Notes |
I've voted in every election, national or local, since I became eligible at age 21, and I have always felt the weight of my decision. I truly do believe that each person in a democracy has a sacred duty to help decide who will run our government and represent the interests of the people.
However, I had never experienced the feeling I did when I voted this past November. My knees, literally, almost went out from under me as I cast my vote, and I was covered with goosebumps. I was one tiny part of history's being made, and today, inauguration day, the goosebumps are coming back. |
By adewpearl
| Author Notes |
My Philadelphia Eagles play for the NFC Conference Championship today and a chance to play in the Superbowl. Philadelphia's city budget is suffering major cutbacks in programs and many people are unemployed - it is not a great time here as it is not in most places in the world today.
But today, excitement is in the air. Everyone is smiling and hopeful and filled with pride. Ian Ayris has a novel appearing on FanStory right now that depicts the meaning of a soccer championship to down and out working class people in England during the 1970's. A major character who has been long out of work and suffering from depression is having the "best day of his life" by going to see his team play. His fictional characters decades ago in a place an ocean away from Philadelphia are experiencing exactly what those in my city are experiencing today - a chance to be part of something that transcends the everyday. No matter how hard times get, to have a team to root for brings people together in hopefulness and community, in a spirit of common purpose and resolve. Some might argue sports are just a diversion from people's real lives, but I would argue they are a part of our culture and consciousness that enriches life just as poetry does. |
By adewpearl
| Author Notes | I just heard on the news that Circuit City couldn't find a buyer after filing for bankruptcy, so 30,000 plus employees will now be joining the swelling ranks of the unemployed. |
By adewpearl
| Author Notes |
This poem could be about thousands of scenarios across the globe and throughout history - but these words attributed to Pastor Martin Niemoller are about one situation where my cinquain would pertain:
In Germany, they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Communist. And then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I was not a trade unionist. And then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I was not a Jew. And then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up. |
By adewpearl
| Author Notes |
When American troops landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, Life Magazine photojournalist Robert Capa landed with them.
He took three rolls of film, but only 11 frames developed properly. The one this cinquain is based on shows a helmeted soldier just as he has completed his swim to shore. Because of German obstacles, landing boats could only get within 50 to 100 yards of shore. Many soldiers died in the rough seas before they ever reached shore, and many more died crawling the next couple hundred yards in the sand. Bloody Omaha is what the beach is now known as because of the 2200 casualties suffered. Capa insisted on being as close to his subjects as possible to capture the true feel of battle. This photo is taken close up and from eye level, giving it an immediacy that made Capa the most famous photojournalist of WWII. His photography certainly qualifies as art as well as historic artifact. Google Robert Capa Omaha Beach to see this and the other ten photos. The photo I've used is of soldiers' graves at Omaha Beach today. |
By adewpearl
| Author Note: | for anyone with bonds to break |
When I
break loose my bonds,
and over barriers bound,
I'll blaze new paths till freedom have
I found.
By adewpearl
| Author Note: | For everyone who dreams |
| Author Notes | Phantasmagoria means a shifting series or succession of things seen or imagined as in a dream. It was another name for a magic lantern device that projected shifting images, popular in the 19th Century. It is also the title of a Lewis Carroll poem. Among others, Walt Disney was influenced by these magic lantern shows. |
By adewpearl
In war,
nations suspend
international law,
but who's empowered to suspend
the pain?
| Author Notes | There are "rules of war" that many nations try to adhere to, but in the midst of such violence, the climate is ripe for such horrors as rape and murder of civilians, even if the country conducting the war does not condone these things. And as we've seen in wars of the past and today, there are also outlaw nations where the entire conduct of war suspends any semblance of law. There are today wars where children are torn from their families to fight, where women are raped in front of their children, where civilians are hacked to death or left permanently maimed and otherwise brutalized. Many of their torturers never face punishment, but their pain is no less because it was endured during wartime. |
By adewpearl
| Author Note: | For every soldier in harm's way |
We pray
another's child
will die so ours might live,
but who do we believe will hear
such prayers?
| Author Notes |
In 1904, late in his life, Mark Twain dictated a very short story called The War Prayer, which remained unpublished in his lifetime at his family's request. He wanted it published posthumously and got his wish when it was included in an anthology in 1923. You can easily Google it and find the full text on several sites.
Why did his family wish this unpublished when so much of what he wrote was controversial? This story is an anti-war statement prompted by the 1899-1902 Phillipines-American War, which Twain opposed. In it, a man walks into a church where people are praying for victory and safety for their soldiers, and he reminds them that the unstated flip side of their prayer is that the other side lose and their troops be obliterated. My cinquain compresses his message into a few words and asks, Do we really believe God wants to leave widows and orphans on either side? Prayers in the last line is pronounced as one syllable. |
By adewpearl
By adewpearl
We heard
a plaintive voice,
but having much to do,
picked up our pace and talked above
the sound.
By adewpearl
I watch
the falling snow,
lay white upon my world,
till drifts pile high and soon obscure
my view.
| Author Notes | a cinquain is a five line poem of 2 syllables, then 4, then 6, then 8 and finally 2. The classic cinquain, as devised by Adelaide Crapsey, builds to a climax and then in the end has a turn with a fall in mood. |
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