Thursday, May 03, 2007

war

there a dark corner spread
and became persuasive
a quiet history
nobody could deny

over it the muscle
of day flexed
and marched around proudly
an army celebrating
while the enemy sneaked up
hiding under bushes
beneath trees around corners
taking victims little by little
till so diminished
the day begins to flee
with darkness sprinting after
shouting coward

12 comments:

Pat Paulk said...

But, day always mounts a counter charge. Good one Russell!!

Nicole Braganza said...

wow. I thought this a fantastic poem. Great perspective.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Pat! An ongoing battle of which I hope I was able to show some elements. Thanks for the great comment, my friend.

Russell Ragsdale said...

A wow is a real treasure, thanks Nicole! And what a terrific comment. I'm so glad you enjoyed this, my sweet young friend!

Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Well done, Russell. The counter charge to which Sir Patrick refers would be a poem entitled "But Peace."

Russell Ragsdale said...

I like to think of him as St. Paddy, clutching a beer like a holy relic, waving with it to everyone as a blessing. Thanks Don for the great comment and your wordpress site is awesome!

Sue hardy-Dawson said...

Lovely images irisitable forces
an excelent battle, love the last line

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks Sue! I do love how day seems to tuck its tail and scuttle away with night charging after. Thanks for those wise and appreciative words, sweet lady.

Russell CJ Duffy said...

apparently, ancient man, when building stonehenge built two lintels. two windows through which the sun lay in the bottom window and the moon in the upper window.
the moon was of course the favourite for hunters.
great poem russell.

ps. sorry to have been absent for so long. fekenham is back by the way. repeats to start with.

Russell Ragsdale said...

Wow cj! Good to see you back! I'm desperately writing a syllabus this weekend but can't wait to start back in with f-s. I've enjoyed your poetry in Spilled. I Hope you will continue with that also. Great to hear from you and thanks for the great comment.

S.L. Corsua said...

Conflict is portrayed with much clarity. The "day/darkness" reference makes me think of opposite sides or faces of a wall, rather than a spectrum. No grey area, eh? ^_^ Ahh, I've missed reading your engaging poetry, dear Russell. *big hug*

Russell Ragsdale said...

Thanks soulless! I'm so glad to see you here and your wonderful comment is a great treasure to me. Shades of grey are the rule but the difficult process of distilling everything down to black and white is a reasonable task for poetry to undertake just as the law must seek to sort out who is guilty and who is innocent.

Engaging is high praise indeed coming from such a wonderful poet as yourself. *Big Big Hugs* back my sweet. Thanks so much, I have missed you!