by Odeee
The twisted beauty of the imagery feels like one of those really surreal nightmares that I have sometimes. I have no idea what you refer to in that last line though. And therefore it leaves me feeling a bit dumb, thinking I was following a rampage imagination, when the whole message is upposed to be more hands-on and poignant.
This poem reminds me of a scene you'd see in a movie.
I did have to look up your reference to Karachi.
Karachi in 1990 . . . the killing fields. I was there and witnessed the mayhem. So cruelly captured, and yet so allegorically! The pain, the anger, the pointlessness of it all . . . this poem will certainly give nightmares to some.
. . . and at the same time beautifully simple in style and metaphor. Shows his deep anguish over needless bloodshed, his innate respect for life, his palpable abhorrence of violence. Karachi in 1990 was a vicious jungle, with sniping killings being reported daily. It elicited overwhelming response from Pakistan's literati, but this piece by Odeee surpasses everything I've seen written about those horrifying days.
Milk and blood. Innocence and horror. For those of you who have known this: you know more than I.
Snipings, bombings, suicide attacks, sabotage, we've had them all here. The senselessness of it all is numbing, the susceptibility of people to fall into the terror trap is frightening, the result -- he shows it in a simple graphic manner. Hats off!
There is a controlled anger in these words, an anger neither destructive nor violent, yet powerful enough to jolt one, to make one sit up and take notice of all the madnesses we have "become used to . . ."
I was sickened at the headline...gunman.....kills.....8.....Karachi
1990-2004 Still you have this I know nothing of