14 Jan 2019 "Plague Victims Catapulted Over Walls into Besieged City" by Thomas Lux
Plague Victims Catapulted Over Walls Into Besieged City By Thomas Lux
Early germ
warfare. The dead
hurled this way look like wheels
in the sky. Look: there goes
Larry the Shoemaker, barefoot, over the wall,
and Mary Sausage Stuffer, see how she flies,
and the Hatter twins, both at once, soar
over the parapet, little Tommy's elbow bent
as if in a salute,
and his sister, Mathilde, she follows him,
arms outstretched, through the air,
just as she did
on earth.
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Common names, bodies, people...people that we often don't notice until they are gone. The terrifying image of the dehumanization of war. We count and see bodies, not people anymore.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much weight to this poem...as if you know even by reading it, that this has happened over and over again...and will again. It makes you feel like you aren't doing enough in this world to somehow help.
This poem sounds so much like the Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus."
ReplyDelete"Early germ/warfare." vs "Sitting on a corn flake" or "Yellow matter custard"
"look like wheels/in the sky" vs "See how they fly like Lucy in the sky/See how they run/I'm crying"
"see how she flies" vs "See how they fly"
"arms outstretched, through the air, vs "See how they smile like pigs in a sty
just as she did See how they snide
on earth." I'm crying"