35 years ago stares me in the face,
But we are anything but eye to eye.
I can't understand their pain,
I can't understand their suffering.
I can't look away from the man on horseback with the gun.
His shadowed figure is unwavering.
Did he shoot?
He is at once portrayed to be the most powerful and the most cowardly.
The protesters run toward him and his comrades, fearlessly.
Led by a man with one hand clenched into a fist and the other open to the sky,
They are unarmed.
The mural is anything but silent, cleverly cutting through the peaceful street and green trees.
It remembers what has been forgotten, overlooked, covered up.
It is the work of the people themselves, not the government.
It tells the true story, written on the walls of society itself.
Hi Cal! I really like this poem, how although the speaker know they cannot understand the suffering of those in the war, they try to reach some understanding. I especially like the phrase "open to the sky" and the image of the people breaking away from the government in order to be heard.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem mate. I really liked how you played around with your language. One thing I liked was when you said "35 years ago stares me in the face, but we are anything but eye to eye." This vibe gets supported by the line "He is at once portrayed to be the most powerful and the most cowardly." You make statements that sort of contradict each other but really end up playing off each other to create greater meaning. Nice job man
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