We Never Know
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He danced with tall grass
for a moment, like he was swaying
with a woman. Our gun barrels
glowed white-hot.
When I got to him,
a blue halo
of flies had already claimed him.
I pulled the crumbled photograph
from his fingers.
There's no other way
to say this: I fell in love.
The morning cleared again,
except for a distant mortar
& somewhere choppers taking off.
I slid the wallet into his pocket
& turned him over, so he wouldn't be
kissing the ground.
I only had to read this poem once and I got the chills. It is typical that any piece of work with the topic of war speaks volumes to me. When the speaker says "He danced with tall grass" I analyzed this as a soldier graciously swaying in the grass as he falls to his death after being shot. This use of imagery allows us readers to be able to paint a picture of a soldier, fighting for his country, falling to his last seconds of life.
When the speaker of the poem pulls the photograph from the fallen soldiers hands, I find this part of the poem more beautiful than i can put into words. When a soldier dies and his (or her) men come across his body, or he dies in the arms of one of his men, the note and picture(s) kept in their pocket is taken out of his pocket and returned home to his or her family. These soldiers human beings with families and love that goes so deep that they come out and literally fight for what they believe in.
The speaker of the poem shows respect for the soldier belonging to the opposing country by turning his body over so his face wasn't in the dirt. The picture I am able to create of this poem is so vivid and that is exactly why I chose it. Not only is it a poem that speaks volumes, but the use of imagery is so diligent. This poem portrays the feeling of loss, meaning, and tragedy; however, love encompasses all of those feelings and has the most power over all.
This is a very strong poem. As I was reading your paragraph on why you choose this poem, I noticed that you interpreted that the person turning the soldier over was a soldier from the opposing side. When interpreted this way, I think this poem shows that love is universal. No matter where you are born, the color of your skin, your gender, your income, your sexuality, whoever you are, you are able to love. We are all human, and when it comes down to it, we all have the ability to feel the same emotions. I think its impressive how the poem shows such a positive and strong emotion such as love coming out of such an evil place like war. I really enjoyed reading this poem and I found it interesting that while reading this poem, I felt love for all those fighting for us to be safe. I think it's amazing the emotions that this poem is able to make the reader feel.
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