Comment from strandregs

Excellent

Tony you've stirred my memoirs of my uncle who was
in Nor Africa fixing aircraft wings made of cloth brazen
You know what I mean.
He said he once came face to face with a German round a corner. And they both turned and went the way they came.
and diarrhea was a constant friend.
that's what your epic surfaced.
may the force be with you.Z.

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Funny you should say that. My father-in-law had the exact same experience meeting a Japanese soldier in the jungle. They both fled.

Comment from Walu Feral

Excellent

G'day Tony. This is one deep poem mate. It resonates well with what is still happening in todays world. The picture took me a while to figure out but I finally got it. great work, cheers Fez

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, Fez. I'm not sure if what I read in the picture was what the artist intended, but it seemed to fit.

Comment from Jackarrie

Excellent

This is a very well written free verse poem, I cannot make out the image, but the words are profound.

Each brushstroke licks around
memories of leaden soldiers,
as if they were ice-cream melting

Words so true, as soldiers dying in the thousands. as if they were ice cream melting.

I remember that poisonous led was in children cots,

Well done
Mary

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, Mary. I was quite deeply moved by some of the artwork that arose out of the Spanish Civil War.

Comment from emrpoems

Excellent

Words that paint a picture is how I describe this piece
Effective use of short phrases
Nice word choices
A gradual move from memories of childhood to the realization of sure death

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, emr. I'm not sure if it was words that painted the picture or the picture that painted the words! Both were fairly abstract!

Comment from Dean Kuch

Excellent

Wonderfully done, Tony. A first class write!

"Memories of leaden soldiers-as if they were ice-cream"... a stark transition from childhood to the horrors of war -- the leaden soldiers merely dangerous playthings for adults. A foretaste of death on the nursery floor- knowledge that life inevitably comes with changes, some of them good -- some...not so good. Excellent poem utilizing stark imagery to describe the 'Galeria de la Mina' by Millares. ~Dean

 Comment Written 16-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, Dean. I was deeply moved by some of the artwork that arose from the Spanish Civil War. Many of the combatants were scarcely more than boys. I see I have a Facebook friend request from Dean Cooke, which includes some of your poetry. Is this you?

reply by Dean Kuch on 16-Jan-2015

I don't believe so, Tony. I don't spell my last name with an "E". In fact, I wasn't even aware you were on Facebook, but I'll be sure to look you up. :)

As for my review, you are entirely welcome, my friend. ~Dean

reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

I thought I'd check before deleting it! I don't use Facebook much.

reply by Dean Kuch on 16-Jan-2015

Nor do I. Far too much drama there for me.

Now, I know what you're thinking right about now, Tony... "Drama, he says? But still he's on FanStory constantly?!" LMAO, Heh-heh... :)

reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

To be hooked on FB and FS is to lose one's life twice over! LOL

reply by Dean Kuch on 16-Jan-2015

You are so right about that, my friend!

Comment from livelylinda

Excellent

Tony: powerful pictures you have painted. A theme of death and war so clear that I could hear their anguished cries as bullets shattered their bodies. Great writing and six star worthy but I'm out. Really great one, Tony. Linda

 Comment Written 15-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, Linda. You were one of very few who grasped the intention of my poem. I was beginning to think it rather too abstract!

Comment from Drew Delaney

Excellent

Very good writing. I know not much to add but I do know writing between the lines. Something I cannot do. So how can I understand the completeness of this poem with such a brilliant piece. So sorry. Drew

 Comment Written 15-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, Drew. Some poems are easier to understand than others. I'm not sure that I entirely understand this one myself! LOL

Comment from flamingstar

Excellent

I couldn't really make out what was happening in the artwork, but your words were imaginative and stirring. I was especially drawn to the last stanza - the nursery floor got me.

 Comment Written 15-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

The artwork is very much clearer in the original. It is a picture built up from layers of bandage overlaid by thick white paint. A strange idea, but the effect is compelling, as is much of the art arising from the Spanish Civil War.

Comment from pipersfancy

Exceptional

You have let us enter the quiet spot where creativity takes place... the space between the images, the silence behind the lines of poetry, into that vast chasm of nothingness between thoughts where everything can find its birth into the world.

Love the image of the abandoned toy, the puppet, no longer a play thing... perhaps the owner has left off playing at war, and has gone off to actually engage in war...

I envision all those leaden soldiers standing in formation, under the hot sun, melting, and reforming into something other than toys.

I'm not familiar with the artist, Manuel Millares, but given his name and the location where his work is found, I'd guess he was Spanish. And, the dates of his life would indicate he was deeply affected by the Spanish Civil War and/or WWII which followed closely on its heels.

Lots of thought provoking images you've painted in this piece.

Christina

 Comment Written 15-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thank you so much, Christina, for your close reading of this poem and for the six stars. Not many people understood its intention. The artwork is much clearer in the original. It is a picture built up from layers of bandage overlaid by thick white paint. A strange idea, but the effect is compelling, as is much of the art arising from the Spanish Civil War.

Comment from GWinterwin

Excellent

Good picture, and words to tell of the inner picture an artist might see as they look at an abstract of something without form. Something inside the page of inner thoughts.

 Comment Written 15-Jan-2015

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reply by the author on 16-Jan-2015

Thanks, GW. You have summed it up nicely!