Description: In 1994, over 800,000 people died in a one hundred day period.
Bodies were piled in trucks and on streets.
Gunfire rang out day and night.
The children of those killed still live.
They will remember those days for the rest of their lives.
This is for Rwanda.
Mauti Roho - Death of the Spirit -------------------------------------------
hear the guns, the metal roar
all fall down at the sound of war
the dying men give desperate cries
the shrapnel rains from smokey skies
and when the battle then is done
we still must ask which side has won
we'll see the carnage that we reap
we'll all fall to our knees and weep
but yet at end, who will remain?
will there be ones still left unslain?
a silence falls like none before
no one escapes the depths of war
I loved this poem. It reflects my own personal beliefs also, so I really appreciated the theme. This poem expresses a very real emotional response to war. It is profound and forces the reader to see the bare truth, setting aside all political, economic, and social boundaries.
The rhyme and imagery are perfect for the ideas conveyed, and the poem has a flow to it.
My favorite lines:
the dying men give desperate cries the shrapnel rains from smokey skies
You've painted a wonderfully simple picture of the reality here. It leaves the reader to fill in the blanks and look within themselves for solice from this all too-real happenstance.
Short, but very good ! We saw the movie 'Hotel Rwanda' with school and I liked it.(Actually I wasn't at school but my teacher gave me the Dvd.) At first I found it hard to believe that it was based on true events, but when I did some research I had no choice but to believe it. I think it's horrible that such things happen, it's awfull. Again, good poem. Keep it up ! Tom
Wow! This was poweful indeed. The lives of those left behind will be haunted with memories for life. I flet you did a good job with relating the events and giving details full of imagery, just not cut and dry. I'm sorry people had to endure such a war. You spoke truth and did it well. Great work!
very powerful piece of writing.. really, no one "wins" a war, do they? it's the ones left behind who will never be the same.. it can certainly kill the spirit when one has witnessed such carnage.. and like you say, no one escapes the depths of war.
very well-written, short, concise and to the point.
Submission Name: Mauti Roho - Death of the Spirit
