A Soldier’s Monologue By: Sharlene Moss
As I sit here in my trench
Night begins to fall
I am cold and scared
Trying to take in a clean breath of air
And recollect this afternoon’s mayhem
They say war is hell
And all hell broke loose in the valley today.
Shells were falling to the left,
And shells were falling to the right of me
Bullets flying overhead in the air
Like a thousand fireflies.
Hoping the one with my name on it will not find its target.
Throughout today’s fighting
You heard the screams of glory,
And the screams of pain and suffering
You try to survive.
I stayed alive.
As nightfall crept closer
The guns were silenced
The moon above shone bright
Gave us hope for a quiet night.
Yearning anxiously for the coming dawn.
I was looking around and fearful for my friend,
my right hand man.
We look out for each other here.
We are a family; we are a band of brothers.
War is hell there are no heroes,
it is fought in the name of love, religion and one’s country.
It is young men fighting for old man’s lust and greed.
Only the good die young.
As I look up at the night sky;
peaceful and serene,
thinking of my loved ones back home.
I believe the saying goes “Life
is not measured by the number of
breaths you take, but by the moments
that take your breath away”.
This is Corporal Robert Jones, 19 years of age
Proud to be a part of the human race and
I’m coming home.
In this poem the focus was free verse with some rhyming stanzas. The large amount of space is used for pauses/reflection.
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Sharlene,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very beautiful poem that speaks volumes on the tragic effects/ nature of war. I especially like where you say, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away". This is a very prolific statement about life itself, in general.
I also like how you capture the essence of war through a soldier's perspective. This poem is definately reminiscent and reminds me of the "trench poets"
Nice Work!
Andra
“A Soldier's Monologue” makes the reader experience Corporal Jones’ anguish and fear. One can visualize themselves along with him, inside of the trench, afraid that any moment could be their last breath. Only the hope of ever seeing loved ones back home keeps Jones and the reader going. The use of the large, free space definitely helped give the reader pause and time to ponder Jones’ situation. In “I will Survive”, I kind of thought the rhyme scheme was aabb, ccdd, with no rhyme on the third stanza and then aa on the couplet. Then again poems are not my forte so I could be wrong. The poem itself is sweet and emotional, and gives a glimpse into how people feel about love and their own strengths.
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