I was born
August 9th, 1970
My paternal grandfather
My father's father died
August 11th, 1970
Two floors up
same hospital
having never even seen me.
He lived 73 years
all but seventeen
tortured
for he was in the trenches
when the clouds settled in
sought you out
for no one could out run
the mustard gas.
Into the lungs
you have to breathe
to live
but you can also breathe
to die.
He lived
sort of
it is horid
what man can think of
create to destroy each other
lungs burned
from the inside
he lived until
two days after I was born
he died.
A contest entry
- Horrifying History by redmarkonthewall.
900 points, ended November 21, 2007, 16 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
what do you think?
Comments
-
Quite sad. The horrors of chemical warfare are immense. Well done and sorry it took so long to comment. Thank you for your entry.
-
what a brilliant peice of work. Your economical with your words and each word you say contributes directly to the flow.
the enjambment here was particularly effective and just a great use of repetition.
"Into the lungs
you have to breathe
to live
but you can also breathe
to die."
great as usual.
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