WAR POETRY Year 9 English Literature
THE YELLOW PALM
As I made my way down Palestine Street *casual, sauntering, carefree
I watched a funeral pass –
all the women waving lilac stems *permeated with colour, mostly
around a coffin made of glass vibrant (exception: black)
and the face of the man who lay within
who had breathed a poison gas.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I heard the call to prayer
and I stopped at the door of the golden mosque
to watch the faithful there
but there was blood on the walls and the muezzin’s eyes person who calls the faithful to prayer at
were wild with his despair. mosque
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I met two blind beggars
And into their hands I pressed my hands *repetition unifies them in compassion and empathy
with a hundred black dinars;
and their salutes were those of the Imperial Guard in the Mother of all Wars.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I smelled the wide Tigris,
the river smell that lifts the air
in a city such as this;
but down on my head fell the barbarian sun *surrounded by the beauty of nature
that knows no armistice. which is symbolic of peace and calm
yet in reality there is no hope of peace
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I saw a Cruise missile, *casual remarks throughout in respect
a slow and silver caravan of things that are horrific, disturbing
on its slow and silver mile,
and a beggar child turned up his face *poignant/ almost a juxtaposition
and blessed it with a smile.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
under the yellow palms
I saw their branches hung with yellow dates
all sweeter than salaams,
and when that same child reached up to touch,
the fruit fell in his arms.
ROBERT MINHINNICK
THE YELLOW PALM
As I made my way down Palestine Street *casual, sauntering, carefree
I watched a funeral pass –
all the women waving lilac stems *permeated with colour, mostly
around a coffin made of glass vibrant (exception: black)
and the face of the man who lay within
who had breathed a poison gas.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I heard the call to prayer
and I stopped at the door of the golden mosque
to watch the faithful there
but there was blood on the walls and the muezzin’s eyes person who calls the faithful to prayer at
were wild with his despair. mosque
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I met two blind beggars
And into their hands I pressed my hands *repetition unifies them in compassion and empathy
with a hundred black dinars;
and their salutes were those of the Imperial Guard in the Mother of all Wars.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I smelled the wide Tigris,
the river smell that lifts the air
in a city such as this;
but down on my head fell the barbarian sun *surrounded by the beauty of nature
that knows no armistice. which is symbolic of peace and calm
yet in reality there is no hope of peace
As I made my way down Palestine Street
I saw a Cruise missile, *casual remarks throughout in respect
a slow and silver caravan of things that are horrific, disturbing
on its slow and silver mile,
and a beggar child turned up his face *poignant/ almost a juxtaposition
and blessed it with a smile.
As I made my way down Palestine Street
under the yellow palms
I saw their branches hung with yellow dates
all sweeter than salaams,
and when that same child reached up to touch,
the fruit fell in his arms.
ROBERT MINHINNICK
