Judy's August Post

8/26/2013

Dieppe Tank

'Why is that there, Mummy?'

Nose pressed to tourist bus window,

Inquisitive mind, a need to know.

On the sidewalk outside the Armoury ...

Why is it there for all to see?

'It's a tank, from the war.'

He didn't ask 'What's it for?'

He knows about machines of war.

He knows about things that go ka-boom!! and ka-pow!!

'Mummy, why is it there now?'

And then, as if on cue,

I saw the sign he couldn't read.

Dieppe – 8 August – 1942.

Should one try to explain what this tank had seen –

the bloody slaughter that was Dieppe?

Surely it's time to let go ... and yet

This child wants to know, in 2013.

'Why, mummy, why?'

I waited. There was no reply.

J Bandidt © August, 2013

1 Comment

Lyn Browne

8/26/2013 11:40:02 pm

Judy - this one works so well, with the links of rhyme and half-rhyme. And I like the oblique approach to a war poem, seeing it through a child's eyes. The line 'why is it there now?' hammers the message home, and especially linked with the fact that by the end, the mother offers no explanation.
Just a couple of things: not sure about using 'sidewalk' as this is a poem set in France. Should be 'pavement'? Or you could shorten the line and just say 'right outside the Armoury'. It would scan well.

Talking of scanning, I feel that 'ka-boom' line is a little too long - how about shortening it to 'He knows about things that go ka-pow!! Which links, of course, with 'now' in the next line.

Judy's August Post

Leave a Reply.

Archives

Categories