...now what?

No matter what,
I'm right.
No matter what,
I'm wrong.

It's like waiting to finally jump,
to the tune of the most beautiful song.

There's always a path to walk on,
always a place to go,
someone to see,
a friend,
work.

so many cigarettes.

It's not easy letting somebody down,
because every time it happens,
I feel myself slipping.

Choose.

And deal.

"Battery O'Rorke" - G.C. Waldrep

The poems that stand out most in G.C. Waldrep's second collection, Disclamor, are the battery poems, a series of nine poems dispersed throughout the collection describing nine different military fortifications on the northern California coast.  I examined the fourth poem in which Waldrep describes the power of words and the trouble that war brings.  Battery O'Rorke is named after Colonel Patrick Henry O'Rorke who graduated from West Point Military Academy and was killed in the Battle of Gettysburg during the Civil War.

The first thing Waldrep does is reminds us of how things quickly disappear and also how things change over time.  "What is written here fades quickly. / Faces drawn in chalk / names."  Waldrep is noting the graffiti covering the abandoned fort, which used to stand for the security of our nation.  His somber tone then reflects his position concerning war.  "West, east, the longitudes of war. / This is no place for monuments."

Waldrep shows us how words are so important.  "The beach ignores the power of words / as words ignore the power of things."  He means that violence and fear can be avoided by rationalization and collaboration, but both stand no chance against weapons and war.  He notices that there is a very humanistic element missing from the motivation to build such a place as a battery.  Communication.

The structure and literary techniques that Waldrep use are unique to his style.  The lines are very sporadically spaced, possibly to slow down the pace of the poem or to mirror the broken armament.  Also the poem is intentionally divided into four parts, all of which have a different number of lines.  Waldrep uses repetition frequently and does not try to avoid obscurities despite naming himself "a very minor poet" in the third section.  "I walked to the sea as I walk to the sea, / I am a creature of the sea."  And another example, " I want as I have always wanted."

G.C. Waldrep in "Battery O'Rorke," comments on the misfortune of war and the strength of words.  His folk-like style and his Whitman-like sentence structure are combined to have a lasting emotional connection with the reader.

G.C. Waldrep is an esteemed poet and writer who has received recognition including the Flannery O'Connor award, the NEA grant, and the 2003 Colorado Prize for Poetry.  He currently teaches at Bucknell University.

Waking Up and Parting Ways

I saw you out the window.
Made me wish I wasn't stuck in here.
As if I didn't know this is supposed to happen.

It wasn't my decision,
but I wish it could have been mine.
If only I didn't hold myself back.

I disguise caring with not caring,
but you bring me back.

I look through a pinhole,
eyes half shut.
You're in the crow's nest.

and you see me.

The Poetry of World War I

In examining World War I poetry, a poem that caught my eye was Guillaume Apollinaire's poem "The Little Car" because of the picture section in the middle.  At first the picture was vague to me, but after a little research I learned that the technique is called a calligramme.  This calligramme is in the shape of an automibile.  

Furthermore, the poem interested me because the perspective of the speaker, a soldier and Apollinaire, is almost optimistic.  In reading other World War I poetry, the grotesque images of battle, death, and starvation, overwhelm the reader with a distaste for war.  "The Little Car" however describes a soldier being liberated or reborn from his involvement in such an important movement.  Apollinaire was from Poland but actually moved to France to enlist. He died two days before the cease fire was recognized on November 11, 1918.

Poets Against the War

In class we examined post 9/11 and antiwar poetry to look more closely at political poetry.  The website considered for this examination <http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org> was founded in 2003 and anthologizes numerous poems from numerous poets opposing the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and the war in Pakistan.  

A poem that interested me was written by a man from Iraq, Paul Batou.  "Minor Dream" is a poem that uses a list technique to describe a sort of childish state as in a nursery rhyme.  The descriptions of things that every child should have in life is counterpointed by the last line.  The impact is very significant.  The "liberating" war effort, as some call it, makes hardship for innocent people, describes Batou.  

Interestingly, Batou is also a painter.  He is a pharmaceutical graduate from the University of Baghdad, but he says his interest remains in the world of art.