The Line

I once heard a story about an enemy soldier finding humanity while guarding prisoners of war

The razor wire sliced the guards’ stone face

with shadows from the sun like welts severe.

While those - the tortured men, transcend their fate

with levity strung high and ear to ear.

And bootless bang the feet of they: who dare

to raise the dust and soul. Not in despair;

but defiance! proud. Such spirits ‘loft break

not. Nor fold. Nor fade they into a waif…

Yet on he looks, the tackled screw, and thinks:

what is this thing that lifts them there? Those men

of bone and skin drawn in, those men who drink

from unseen well: what inside upholds them?

And glimpsing what he fears is true, he rues

the line so sharply drawn between the two.

Author's Note

You might notice a difference in the tense between the first 2 lines and the rest, but I don't think it really matters.

*the word "screw" is slang for guard, or prison warder.

Reviews

[Relic]

Schindler's list comes to mind when reading this, but I have also heard of guards having pity for those they were watching over. The mind is a funny thing, it takes orders from its own guard and can be programmed to do horrible things with no feeling, or recognize a light within the most bleak darkness.

[charlie]

Indeed... I appreciate your time, Tim. Thanks for your visit.

[Richard🖌]

Charlie,
I think Kipling could have said it no better.
Shot 5-times, my 185 pound father (after spending 12-months in a Philippine Japanese POW camp) returned home a 110 pound skeleton.
It took him a long time before he'd sit down and relate his experiences and atrocities, and from him was learned how some of his guards were quite human, while others were not, and while reading this, I couldn't help wondering if any of them learned anything from the American and allied prisoners they oversaw.

You're a hell of a writer, Charlie … thanks tremendously for sharing! ⁓ Richard

[charlie]

Tragic to hear such stories as this. Thank you, Richard, for sharing yours.

[Frontier]

Very interesting flow and composition, some very interesting lines, such as the first and last...they are excellent.
Also a rare and unique topic.

[charlie]

Hi there. And thank you for saying so.

[Jimmy Yetts]

No use repeating what you just said so eloquently.
Very fine work, charlie!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

i agree with Marie....it is the only way to portray what you bring to this poem. the conflict of war, two opposing sides, yet empathy on both for the other.....

nicely done, charlie.

[Marie]

Ordinarily I don't like the changing of tenses within a work, but in this case, there's no other way you could have done it and made your point.

[charlie]

My thoughts aswell

[David Watson Brown]

Interesting work; one could easily apply these questions to the myriad divisions that we humans manage to devise

[charlie]

Sure enough, David. Most certainly.

[Tree]

Ok. The first thing I want to do is commend you on your technical prowess here, outstanding structure and technique. I don't usually write this fine and structured but when I need to I employ the very same devices you do here, that is, to capture a natural tone I'll use the ten syllables or so per verse structure in order to tame my writing, give it the frame in needs to hold up my ideas and language. As for the tense at line one and two you're correct, it doesn't matter... In regards to the content of the piece, Charlie, I was swept up in the story and you give us just enough information, yet not so much as to put our imaginations to sleep...

Well done.

Diego

[charlie]

Thanks for that, Diego. As I read this poem today I think: "...too many prepositions! too many conjunctions! too much assonance!..." But then I quickly remember - "s**t. it's only practice" :)
Then again, the prepositions and conjunctions are the kind of 'fillers' that do lend to a natural tone, aren't they. Yes, I think so.
I find your reading and comments encouraging, D. Your time is appreciated.