Tuesday, May 06, 2014

Cancer!

The beefy armoured
love from the infantry,
took on the sharp edged
mystery from a Samurai’s soul.
They all won, but chivalry died,
cursing with his last breath:
Let there be light,
mushrooms, and cancer.

Now we mortgage life,
for our lust,
for mobility,
for insecurity;
and try to burn away
the corrupt genes,
a war we all lose. 
Where the hell is chivalry?
 

4 comments:

ayaniv said...

In war
Who is the victor?
Who is the vanquished?
Can peace be bought with war?

In World War II,
Darkness fell upon the land of the rising sun,
Japan was relentless to surrender to the Americans,
And Americans were hell-bent to salvage their lost pride after Pearl Harbor,

The mushroom cloud left millions devastated,
Generations were affected by radiation sickness,


The degree of destruction,
The stench of death,
What could we salvage out of it?
Peace? Pride? Nationalism?


Man considered this as the birth of atomic age,
Dropping weapons of doom…


Pray that history doesn’t repeat itself. War brings out the best as well as the worst in humans.
It comes with its own share of horrors, military blunders and senseless brutalities. Sadly with enhanced technology, human ability to inflict suffering on fellow beings has also increased. But, killing innocent civilians can never be heroic or chivalrous.

ayaniv said...

In war
Who is the victor?
Who is the vanquished?
Can peace be bought with war?

In World War II,
Darkness fell upon the land of the rising sun,
Japan was relentless to surrender to the Americans,
And Americans were hell-bent to salvage their lost pride after Pearl Harbor,

The mushroom cloud left millions devastated,
Generations were affected by radiation sickness,


The degree of destruction,
The stench of death,
What could we salvage out of it?
Peace? Pride? Nationalism?


Man considered this as the birth of atomic age,
Dropping weapons of doom…


Pray that history doesn’t repeat itself. War brings out the best as well as the worst in humans.
It comes with its own share of horrors, military blunders and senseless brutalities. Sadly with enhanced technology, human ability to inflict suffering on fellow beings has also increased. But, killing innocent civilians can never be heroic or chivalrous.

Thought-Les said...

thanks for the comment vinaya. your comment is more-or-less a synopsis of what i wrote. i hope u understood the poem though.

and chivalry in war is a thing of the past now. what remains with us from the dawn of the atomic era is cancer. and that's what i have written in my poem. Read it again.

and beyond pearl harbour and salvaging pride, there are other motives behind America joining the war. I understand that you know your history. But I feel you need to comprehend and analyse it further.

Thanks again and looking forward to further feedback on my poems dear

ayaniv said...

Feeling a bit irked as early morning I spent quite sometime giving you a fitting reply. Heavy rains and winds led to disruption in power supply and all what I had typed was gone. Not once but twice.
It's hard for me to read your mind. But, I know the essence of what we both are saying is the same.
What sparked you to write 'cancer'... I don't know.
Somehow, It was/is sheer coincidence, that I am about to work with elderly cancer patients here. Heart-strong but my head is filled with certain anxieties. In the backdrop of this, I saw your Gchat message 'Cancer' on Tuesday evening. Slept on it. Got up. Wednesday morning, four words remained in my head. Cancer, Samurai, Mushroom and Chivalry. Based on that I responded to your poem. And, I guess, I got you almost right. Yup, I did. Though, I admit, I could not make sense of the first stanza at the first read.
About cancer –the disease- it has touched my life in many ways than you could think of. Long story.
And about analyzing history and deepening my knowledge, point noted. I will do so.
My knowledge about world war stems from the stories I heard from my dad, brother, army officers at dinner table down the years. All of whom were well-versed with history and a few movies and series I watched on National Geography years ago. And books by former Fleet Street journalist Karen Farrington about the horrors of war and various espionages.

So my writing was coloured or prejudiced by my reading and experiences.

Here, it is 11.00am but looks like 11.00pm. The sky is weeping and grumbling. It is crying inconsolably like a child, who has been weaned away from his mother. Non-stop for the last three days. Since I stay close to the backwaters, during high tides the backyard gets flooded. Writing this, from my window I can also see and feel the ferocity of the winds. Half the plants have been devastated. Sad. Rains have turned for me from verses into curses…

Before, I forget I wanted to share a poem a 8-year-old Kenyan child who came to our house for Christmas wrote to his brother on birthday...it is simple and touching...took my heart away...
You and I
Are like bread and butter
Always stuck to One another,
You and I
Are like salt and pepper
Wherever we go We are together...
You and I
Can’t do without each other
We make the best pair of brothers
Happy Birthday to my mothers second great gift
Happy birthday bro!