I hear them before I see them.
The guns,
creating loud noises in the distance,
the bullets hitting the ground,
and the screams of the people,
who were in the way.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
Soon, they aren't in the distance.
They are right in front of me.
And I see them,
turning up dirt,
turning down people,
all the people that don’t move.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I watch as I turn red.
Not from my blood,
but from the blood of my friends,
and my family
And I know,
that they, too, were still.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I hear loud slapping noises.
First they get louder,
and then they get softer.
I look and see that the noises are feet,
running, moving, living.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I want to be like the running people.
I want to get away,
before I am hit.
I don’t want to become like my family,
red, cold, and dead.
All because I didn’t move.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
Soon, they do come.
And I feel myself crumble.
I look down and see that I am now red and cold,
and that I will soon be dead.
I see that I was still for too long.
And I know,
that in the end,
It wasn't the gun that hurt me.
It was my inability to move.
And I know,
that in the end,
It was being still that killed me.
Poem Reflection:
This poem is meant to represent what trench warfare must have felt like. I, obviously, was not there, but I imagine that this is what it would've felt like to be trapped in a trench. The trenches were a great defense strategy as long as both sides were on defense, but, unfortunately, when one side decided to go on offense (like with the gas attacks) the trenches served more as a coffin than as protection. The soldiers knew that if they got out of the trenches, the would be shot down, so they would have had to stay inside. I can only imagine how hard it would be to be still, and know that you were going to die.
The guns,
creating loud noises in the distance,
the bullets hitting the ground,
and the screams of the people,
who were in the way.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
Soon, they aren't in the distance.
They are right in front of me.
And I see them,
turning up dirt,
turning down people,
all the people that don’t move.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I watch as I turn red.
Not from my blood,
but from the blood of my friends,
and my family
And I know,
that they, too, were still.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I hear loud slapping noises.
First they get louder,
and then they get softer.
I look and see that the noises are feet,
running, moving, living.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
I want to be like the running people.
I want to get away,
before I am hit.
I don’t want to become like my family,
red, cold, and dead.
All because I didn’t move.
I command myself to move,
but I can’t.
So I stand still,
awaiting the bullets to come.
Soon, they do come.
And I feel myself crumble.
I look down and see that I am now red and cold,
and that I will soon be dead.
I see that I was still for too long.
And I know,
that in the end,
It wasn't the gun that hurt me.
It was my inability to move.
And I know,
that in the end,
It was being still that killed me.
Poem Reflection:
This poem is meant to represent what trench warfare must have felt like. I, obviously, was not there, but I imagine that this is what it would've felt like to be trapped in a trench. The trenches were a great defense strategy as long as both sides were on defense, but, unfortunately, when one side decided to go on offense (like with the gas attacks) the trenches served more as a coffin than as protection. The soldiers knew that if they got out of the trenches, the would be shot down, so they would have had to stay inside. I can only imagine how hard it would be to be still, and know that you were going to die.