Eating at the corner of the world
And seeing only the sinnews of life
Like crumbs from large loaves
No longer living
No longer awash with the smiles
Before people were shot for smiling.
Eating at the corner of the world
Saying only the names of the dead
And then just with our eyes
As they move from photograph to photograph.
In the few hours of light
We bury dead dreams, dead hopes and dead bodies,
The latter wrapped in
The corner of their world
From now to forever.
—
Jacques du Lumière
_________________________
Soldiers are dipped
Into the boiled egg of the world
And eaten by death.
But death is not evil
Only those who kill are evil,
They will never break the bread
With the yolk of Jesus Christ
No matter what the priests and generals
May ever say.
—
Jacques du Lumière
___________________________
We see it in the rainshine
The elephant in the boatyard
As the corn spins
In a deathly silence.
No one feels like singing
Since snails climbed the mountains
And humans ate humans
As fish ate fish.
—
Jacques du Lumière
___________________________
Like a breath of fresh sand
We tumble down the hill
Some into nettles
Some onto landmines.
Children pick up deadly bombs
Designed as pretty toys
And sold by the good o’ USA
To help a president
To remain in office.
Like a mouth full of cold-dust
We tumble down the hill
Not even thinking what may lie
At the foot of it.
Barbed wire or psycho-soldiers
May lay in wait for us
To finish off us who
Had tried to escape down the hill,
More people to die
For the good o’ USA.
—
Jacques du Lumière
______________________________
Comments (46)
Perfect !! That first one reminds me of WWI poem. Something Sasson or Owens would have written
Just wanted you to know I still come here and read your work every day, Terry. I particularly like these.
That last poem….obviously is a jab at ol’ gw….but what are your feelings on the subject? We here in the USA (those of us who dont have our heads up our ass) know it is bullshit. We should never have gone there and here we sit…with gw stating that the war is over and we are still loosing soldiers every day. I dont nor will I ever support gw but I will support our troops…they are just doing what they have to do.
It wasn’t a jibe at GWB, but at LBJ, Lyndon Johnson so there!
LBJ (another Texan) was a psyco! There is a theory that he was involved in the assasination of JFK. I saw a documentory on it and there is cause for questions.
Excellent and sad poems
I do not discuss politics
I was hoping you’d stop by my site! I didn’t like the word “quail”, but couldn’t come up with a description verb for my discomfort. Also I like your pathos on the crying together. It fits so much better. I may just start spinning off some verse…seventy-five is not too late to start and old dogs can learn new tricks!!!
eye opening and sad, those who think war is a good idea should stand out front in them.. would they? how sad if they would.. couldn’t they fight as hard to find other solutions?
>Children pick up deadly bombs
Designed as pretty toys
solutions other than this sort of thing…
Very depressing world we live in
Wow, these are all really wonderful poems that raise exactly the kind of questions we all try not to think about and make us think about them. Sorry I can’t elaborate, and that this is so inarticulate, but I have to run.
All of these poems need more consideration. They say a lot. I don’t find any of them easy to read and I don’t deny the reasoning within them. If people like yourself goverened the world and could get past the greed that the lobbys stand for in so many cases, it would be a better world. No doubt about that.
damn! that was REALLY good (but terribly sad). they are all a bunch of morons, aren’t they?!
take care. thanks for always coming back.
kristie
“We see it in the rainshine.”
Great opening line! All these poems are fantastic; however, I do choose this one for it’s quality in grabbing my attention. It is also a fantastic poem overall.
Peace.
“Saying only the names of the dead
And then just with our eyes
As they move from photograph to photograph”
nice lines, these
great pieces thanks…
Without death,
This place would be overpopulated.
Death is necessary
To stop the eternal boredom,
And immortality for everyone means
villains living FOREVER! AHHH!
Where all this poems originally french? Is the original version really gone? Your poetry is real poetry,that means more than good.
Gods and hero’s and poets come from islands.
The first one is my favorite, it is so visual, I love the comparison to the bread loaf and the reiteration of the word “dead” but not in the childish way when used for lack of more poetic word, it works perfectly.
~V
That you encompass the brutalities and paradoxes of life in such simple and beautiful lines always astounds me. True talent…
Muy Bueno.
my brains were scrambled.. i never even offered him a cuppa.. and he kept staring at my waist.. why do men do that? any cllues?
i keep getting email from that forum of yours ‘drytears’ (i remember it as yours anyway) about some book they are putting together.. can you ask them to take me off the list?
cos i thought i had already unsubscribed.
loved every letter.
hello assface. what the hell is wrong with your name. you look like an ass just fell out of your nose
Hello, another sad little loser is on Xanga!
that egg those soldiers are dipped in sounds mighty tastey…
and you can have the shell…if you can put it back together from various pieces that it has been crushed into…
as for the haiku. i don’t feel the amount of words i use is a problem. it may not LOOK very nice, but i prefer that my haiku be heard…when i write them i make it a habit to read them out loud to myself. if they don’t pass that test, i usually scrap ‘em. English doesn’t afford the haiku-writer as much liberties as the Japanese haiku-writer. but i am very conscious about my use of words. i use no adjective that doesn’t contribute to the poem (or at least try not to). i’m not trying to create some objective image of some instance of the world. i’m simply trying to make the reading of the haiku an experience. also, i feel that english haiku writers have taken too unrealistic an expectation from japanese haikus. the japanese language is one that allows the economy of words that their haiku have. one word could be a noun, an adjective, AND a verb at the same time…one word could mean a multiplicity of things at the same time, and extra modifying words are often not needed if there is proper context to convey what the writer wants to convey. we can’t do this with english. or at least not nearly so easily as japanese haiku-writers do with their own language. to be honest, my haiku is actually modeled somewhat after the style of 2 prominent figures in the world of haiku: Matsuo Basho, the “originator” of Haiku, and Kobayashi Issa, a later “master” of haiku. many of my haiku are simply my own renditions of their haiku. although many of these haiku are quite simple and economic as far as words go, its quite impossible to retain that minimalism of words in english. in english, there can only be a relative minimalism of words…which is what i try to achieve.
well, i don’t know if there’s actually any complete thoughts in there, but there’s definitely a thought or two. peace.
Thanks for the info, and I’m glad you liked the poems. I’m new to the haiku form, but also aware that there are many different variations.. I think it would be interesting to explore those as well as tanka and cinquain.
Fess up to your shenanigans, I have your number.
Where do these cretins crawl from?
You are right about having to wait until a thought takes over. That is why I wrote the one poem. Oddly, a man at the chemist’s who was only working temporarily in the owner’s absence, was visably ticked off that I couldn’t hear. I told him (as I do those people who don’t have a clue) that I hear a higher tone usually so with a sneer he shouted in a soprano voice and I yelled, “STOP, you are embarrassing me. write it down.” He grabbed the paper and wrote that he was calling another clerk to handle it. I told him he could take the time to write what he had said the first time. He scribbled something and then a clerk came over who knew me. I said, “I am very annoyed. I have always been treated well before. It is hard enough to be disabled without taking this.” She smiled and as an explanation said, “Well, we know you.” What kind of answer is that? That man owed me an apology. Nevermind. I will write another poem.?X*&^%?:Z Yech!!!
Fixed it!
Wheelchair-scheelchair.
maybe you DO have women who want to run off with you. Look at all these comments.
lisa
“Soldiers are dipped
Into the boiled egg of the world
And eaten by death”
What a terrific metaphor. In the U.S. we just say “They are toast!”
Vietnam…Iraq…will we never learn???
a wealth of wisdom lies here for us young people on xanga. how stubborn we are. i have learned much from reading this, thank you.
Hi!
Thanks for all your comments in my site. And i’m really sorry for not commenting in most of yours. But i still read you and enjoy most of what you write. I say “most” and not “all” because some of your poems sadly go beyond my understanding of English.
But at least i understood all of the ones in this post and i really liked them. Some lines are very powerful and sent something like a shock (but not a nice one) while i was reading them.
They made me think a lot. Thanks.
Have a great Sunday!
Lord Pineapple, my friend, This is TheBOOOOYA! speaking and saying hello.
Long time no talkie. How have you been? How are the sarah’s?
Your poetry is humanistic in general and I wonder if you ever get more specific from a removed viewpoint? We had a tribute to the written word last week. Wish you could have made it.
Take Care,
-BOOOOYA!
Your work is ever poignant~~ever so much so. I am always captivated by your characterization~memorable~the mark of genius.
Loving the poems…~Jaime~
Jacques said it all ,what more to add. Cheers Marj
Your poems give such great images to the mind… Good for you, and yes, what a sad person, above.
Tracy
I love these poems. They give one plenty to think about.
Sorry to see yet another great poet being pointlessly harrassed by some xanga-gobshites. Some fecking kids really need some strict parenting. Anyway, I dropped by there site and let them know I’m around. Lets see them pick on me.
Slainte!
I am wondering: why is this from the point of view of a frenchman? Are you trying to identify with the french perspective of the war? Is this an explanation of why they did not choose to fight with the U.S.?
Even your sad, but beautiful, poems cannot get me down today! My girlfriend just left. I now have the loonygoon baton off, and my girlfriend and I did habbi a spicey timmy twoweither. The ninner was fine, but our son and fably dina cum.
i have read these three days in a row now and at least twice each time. they are sad, but true and well-written as usual. something is irking me about there being a secondary or tertiary meaning though. like you had something else on your mind while composing some of these…or double interntion…..is it true?
regardless, they are brilliant. to the reference of the ludicrous history of war and what it does to humanity, I whole heartedly agree. i bet i would enjoy discussing politics with you.
Thought provoking as always. Infinite Blessings
These are all SO powerful! I relate most strongly to the ones that critique religion or those of us in religious vocations. We must be in a constant state of reflection, even as we are called upon to pay attention to others, to act on their behalf, and to react to what they need feedback about. Though we are responsible only for our own salvation, we are still responsible to serve others. Compassion is the glue that allows us to welcome others to know what salvation is, and to invite them to decide whether or not they want to pursue it. Even God doesn’t expect us to demand that they do. In fact, God doesn’t want us to do that, for we are fools to think we can do what God alone can do. I’ll be thinking of you tonight as the debates between Kerry and Bush begin! Long live President Kerry!!! Hugs, Claudia
I totally love the one about the good o’ USA. I am ashamed that our image in the world is one of a nation of bullies and thieves. Most Americans aren’t like that. It just seems like those are the ones who rise to positions of power. Odd, isn’t it?