Amelia has prayed and pleaded and cried
For somehow the Charlie she knew has died
She holds him close when the dark thunder rolls
There are no words with power to console
Or wipe the scenes from his tormented mind
For where Charlie goes, she remains behind…
The shades are drawn to subdue the daylight
But they cannot shade the mind from his plight
The sun is warm with scent of pinewood
He shivers, inhaling the stench of blood
Lassie waits, eager for Charlie to play
Her master is home, it’s a perfect day
He lifts his arm; suddenly he braces
For the explosion of grenades and faces
Lassie looks back, trying to understand
Why Charlie won’t throw the toy in his hand
But she does not hear the planes distant hum
Or marching feet to the beat of a drum
She cannot see the horror-stricken tears
Of mangled and wounded as gun-smoke clears
Her skin does not ache with memories of blood
Covering the earth in a sickening flood
He cannot see rippling wheat fields, blue skies
Darkened by images burned in his eyes
The woods, once tranquil and sweet with romance
Speak only of fear in his haunted trance
Memories of lying in its cool dark shade
Are frames of terror as history is made
When they told her he made it, Amelia cried
Now she still weeps for her Charlie has died
Janet Martin
http://margoroby.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/painting-poems-tuesday-tryouts/
I am utterly fascinated with how different everyone's response is to the same picture.
ReplyDeleteYou have quite a wonderful word painting of how a couple might feel in the situation your couple has experienced.
And you are able to show us both sides vividly. "For where Charlie goes, she remains behind." I have several favourite lines but this one expresses what is happening with great poignancy.
margo
It is fascinating, isn't it? how the same thing, like the Sunday Wordle or a picture prompt can evoke so many different thoughts!
ReplyDeleteDo you think this picture's timing shapes our responses? Do you think if we saw it in mid-July we would see a tranquil summer's eve, and hear the echo of our childhood on the wind? Do you think we would be them, wondering why 'she' miscarried? wondering what it would have been like to have children? or wishing they had children because they see an empty field...the shades in the house are drawn and to me that speaks of sadness...or leaving.
You have taken us inside the mind of this woman - something that is so difficult to do. Thank you.
ReplyDeletethank-you Viv. I watched a movie(cannot remember the name of it)
ReplyDeletewhere the young man returned from WWII and everyone doted on his friends who were missing limbs, visually scarred and such, and yet inside he was irreparably wounded...
Your poem is lovely- and sends me to thinking about how we as humans bear with one another. Watching anothers pain is incredible hard and you have captured this very well.
ReplyDeleteI wonder like you about the timing of seeing this image. I wonder if I had seen this image in summer instead of fall if it would have triggered a lighter response from me. (As you know my poem was "dark" as well). Nice to meet you by the way and thank you for visiting my place. xo teri
Hi Teri, Thank-you so much for your visit and your thoughts. Yes, it does seem Autumn, or is it approaching winter, drags us down a little. Maybe we should ask her to re-post this picture in May;)
ReplyDeleteJanet ~ in nursing school I observed one quarter at a Veteran's psychiatric ward. So sad to see those men suffering ~ and mostly related directly to their wartime experiences. This poem reminded me of one man in particular, and helped me see what his wife or mother might've experienced...
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie 'From Here to Eternity' recently as well as a documentary where veterans recalled experiences... We would all choose freedom without the horror if we could!
ReplyDeleteThat must have been quite an experience for you! We really have no idea, do we?
Those men and women will always have my respect. What they lived through, and continue to relive... no one should have to. Yes, it was quite eye-opening, and honestly, I always left feeling sad and depressed because of what I heard and saw. Also... that quarter happened to be late winter to early spring... everything was just 'dead' looking, and I had quite the drive, in a lot of darkness.
ReplyDelete...and yet, as you see, it left a lasting memory because of its depth!
ReplyDeleteHave you ever watched the movie Legends of the Fall? It is quite graphic in a few parts, but I remember thinking about how it says in Matthew 24 in the last days we will see horrors never yet seen on this earth-a sobering thought, huh?