Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Poem Task 2 Part 2

POV:

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

Wikipedia reports, “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.

According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.” To read more in Wikipedia go tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

This poem may remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over.

"Rumors persist of still another more toxic color coded herbicide at the end of this deadly rainbow!

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang!
My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure.

Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash." ~ Hubert Wilson

Source: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

Situation and Setting:

The setting is Shemya island, Vietnam. The areas and resources were contaminated and poisoned. Water was especially targeted. This wan meant to poison anyone who drank the water which in this case were the USAF security service soldiers. The soldiers who went there suffered many health problems in their life, many years after the war.

Language/Diction:

There is an oxymoron in the title "Rainbow Death". A rainbow is bright and colourful while death is dark and gloomy. The poem does not follow any particular rhyme scheme. There is a very queer word "potpourri". Potpourri is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant material, used to provide a gentle natural scent in houses.

Personal Response:

This poem seemed strange to me at first, until I saw the last line that finally mentioned about Agent Orange. I have read about this Agent Orange before but that remained at the back of my head until I came across this poem that reawakened the spirit of the Agent Orange in me. I pitied the people who have and are suffering from the after effects of this deadly chemical. This poem also made me feel for the people that have gone through the tough trial oof warfare, where the war is not over when it stops and are still fighting battles of their own either physically or mentally. War has horrible repercussions that are unimaginable if started. Hence, I have understood and received the message that the poet was trying to convey and I hope that one day, war will be a distant thing of the past.

Children in the Darkness

There are children in the darkness
Who have not seen the light
There are children in the darkness
Who someone will teach to fight

Chalk and blackboards will not be
To this door there is no key
From this life they can not flee
And these children are not free

Could we simply light a candle
Could we give them half a chance
Could we teach them how to read
Could we teach them how to dance

Or will a war consume them
Their body and their soul
Will their life and blood be poured
Down some endless thirsty hole

Back into the darkness
From which there is no flight
Back into the darkness
Into which there shines no light

Henry M Bechtold

Poem Task 2 Part 1

POV:

The point of view is that of an adult who is mature enough to understands the plight of the children in Vietnam and the horrors of war.

He wants to free the children from all the suffering they are going through. This could be seen from stanza 4, which describes the horrors of war. The repeated use of 'could we' in stanza 3 seems to be suggest that it is a must for us to help these children.

Situation and Setting:

The setting is in Vietnam. Children are taught how to fight and then sent to war and usually to their deaths. Stanza 1 line 4 - 'who someone will teach to fight' tells us that the children were given training. It could be inferred from Stanza 2 ' there is no key' and 'are not free' that the children were unable to escape the horrors of war and that they would never be free from this abuse. 'their life and blood be poured down some endless thirsty hole' shows that the number of children dying would increase infinitely.

Language/Diction:

The rhyme scheme follows the ABAB style.

This is evident from:

Stanza 1: darkness, light, darkness, fight
Stanza 2: be, key, flee, free
Stanza 3: candle, chance, read, dance
Stanza 4: them, soul, poured, hole
Stanza 5: darkness, flight, darkness, light

Personal Response:

After reading this poem, I have learnt to pity the children in Vietnam and realise how lucky I am in Singapore where there are no war. I also learnt that children should never be dragged into war. In the first place, there should never be war.

Poem Task 1

Children in the Darkness

The poet was in Vietnam from 1967 - 68 and again in 1969. He was sitting in his hotel room in Saigon just before Christmas 2009 and he was trying to write a poem about the girls who worked in the park and how badly men treated them. He was angry and as such was unable to write anything. Then, he looked at the TV and the news was on. According to him, he did not understand what the news reader was saying but he said in the background was a photo of a small boy with a helmet and an automatic rifle. All of a sudden the words just came to him and he typed as fast as he could to get it all down as the poem flowed out