Songs of My Youth

Crawling under tiny school desks

Bomb warnings blaring

Practicing for the big one

Making basements into shelters

Water hoses, and dead bodies piling up

of people marching peacefully

Watching TV as Jack, Bobby, and Martin

Died in front of our eyes

Cover story with brains exploding

From the enemies head

Hearing lies of how many soldiers we had dead

Fear resounding of enemies

Whose faces were obscure

Subversive lists, and hidden files

Military turning on citizens

Bodies piling up 

Music to escape our fears

Drugs to do the same

Living in the NOW

Figuring it's all we had

Trying to change the clouds of death

Always above our head

 

 

 

Reviews

[Sheila Kline]

Real, raw, and recited in a way that I am totally able to relate to, as I have the same kind of memories!
You have taken memories of many yesterdays, and the lies, and horror of it and captured the images!....subversive lists and hidden files...so true.
P.s. I am somewhat of a conspiracy theorist, (dubbed by my son), and have done much reading, research........all of what you say here is true. If only 1/2 people knew the "real" truth...or even 1/10th of the people could even begin to grasp the truths of certain situation the destiny of our nation would be ever changed!
Great write!
Sheila

[Nick Demus]

Nice. Powerful but not preachy. The end of the poem further humanisines it's content, and I really felt that it was your take on these events, and that they weren't just there to try and make a statement for the sake of it.
Cheers for the review by the way. The thing had only been on a few hours, but obviously this place has a good community, so you've inspired me to get a bit more active!

[Ellen Hammond]

Incredible write that brings back a lot of memories. Its simplicity gives it a powerful edge which keeps it relevant to this day as well as to past eras.

[Dredd]

To sum up an era in so few words... truly amazing

[Gav Mac]

I ve often wondered what it would have been like in war time. This poem tells me all i want to know. I never want to find out for myself and have the greatest respect for anyone who has or is experiencing this kind of terror now. Music helps me escape too and i often think of it as a sort of savior for the soul. No matter whats going on around you. Music can at least provide a sliver of relief. Thanks for this great poem.

[Markymark]

Wow butterfly mom,

This one has some edge. I like it. This one conjures up a bunch of memories from the past.
Good write.

[Raef C. Boylan]

Captured an era here. Amazingly, although the poem reads like a litany, it doesn't become monotonous like a list could do; it works well.
Some of the references may have escaped me [I'm British]. Bobby = JFK, Martin = M Luther King?
Who is Jack?
No wait - haha, I'm a dumbass. Jack = JFK? Bobby = Bobby Kennedy?

I like how you restricted the rhyming couplets; it maintained the flow nicely, without detracting from the power of the poem by seeming cheesy [as constant couplets may have done].

Great work.

[Sel Whiteley]

This is absolutely brilliant, it captures the oppressive atmosphere and the fear of citizens living through war anywhere. And in this way it has a universality. The contrast between the title which seems an echo of songs of innocence and the actual theme of the songs you heard is incredibly resonant. Even though it is something I can't pretend to understand, I can empathise, I think. The image of children living in fear, amongst bombs; of children, whose innocence is sacrificed to drugs, there only escape music. It seems like the landscape of Northern Ireland. The references to: 'watching TV as Jack, Bobby and Martin/died in front of our eyes,' is an incredibly emotive line, the simplicity of the statement make it that bit more hard-hitting. This could be the hunger strikers. Recently I saw the film, 'Hunger' and that was heart-rendering enough. The lines: 'subversive lists, and hidden files/military turning on citizens/bodies piling up' are such powerful references to what might be collusion while 'dead bodies piling up/of people marching peacefully' could be Bloody Sunday. An incredibly strong poem that vividly depicts the landscape of war.

[uber-bubble]

great diction, fantastic sentiment. a pleasure to read

[Saturnalia]

This is very powerful. Even though I wasn't alive at this time, I can fully understand where you're coming from. Nothing has really changed, has it? One thing, "hiddlen" should be "hidden".