Turrets and bulwarks,
build a wall and dig a moat.
pull the drawbridge,
put your trust in
razorwire, guns and ammo.
Have you seen the windmill over there?
Is that a Trojan horse?
They’re wolves in sheep’s clothing
But better safe than sound,
just throw them out
or shoot before you ask.
Our safety demands a sacrifice
from someone (all of us)
but mostly them
we call collateral.
If bread is scarce
let them eat cakes instead,
we’re under siege
but still we’re safe
defended by our fence.
Adorn it with the best of gold
we love you, sacred wall.
A bit later this week. Yesterday I was trapped in flights from Helsinki to Stockholm, which is weatherlocked by huge amounts of snow. A poem this week that you can interpret as you want. Certainly I see it in quixotic terms. To see enemies in all we
Friday Fictioeners is curated by General Commander Rochelle Wisoff-Fields, and we write 100 weeks every week to the same picture.
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November 10, 2016
Björn Rudbergs writings 
Ah…tilting at windmills. Great Don Quixote reference!
I think if you see enemies everywhere you are going end up very scared.
Dear Björn,
I’m going to take it at face value and say, good work.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Thank you… face value works for me.
Nice poem with strong images. I’m choosing to read it as a metaphor for the state of the world today!
It could be, it could very well be.
I really liked this one. I especially liked the building of words–the scaffolding, if you will, of terms that describe defenses:
“Turrets and bulwarks,
build a wall and dig a moat.
pull the drawbridge,
put your trust in razorwire, guns and ammo.”
This has a nice, strident and militaristic note. I think the only word missing is ‘Ramparts’. I always like a good rampart myself, especially if it is paired with the word ‘rampant.’ There is a very rat tat ta tat rhythm to the cadence too. Overall an awesome feast of poetic goose stepping!
Ha.. yes I couldn’t avoid it… for me the only thing’s missing are the shiny boots.
Like Iain, I couldn’t help but read this in light of current events. Powerful emotions running through it. Right now I can relate to the idea of attacking windmills.
The old metaphors always works…
Oh how we live under a blanket of suspicion.
I fear my fear more than fear itself.
Uh oh, walls, tilting at windmills, Trojan horses…. Yup, I’m reading it as a metaphor too. I enjoyed it a whole lot more than I did the real life events.
Oh the cost of trust… distrust is like a taxation I once heard.
Very à propos…
Somehow I needed to get this out of the system…
I so hear you. Even us non-American are feeling it
And we have the same in Europe…
I hear you….
Mankind does love a wall.. though nature does not.
A beautiful wall.. a truly marvelous one.
Well done Bjorn. Distance created by fear… damn walls and moats. Good tale
Fear is worse than the things we fear.
I love this line break: “put your trust in” (inside, in yourself)
There’s a typo in this line: “ot shoot before you ask” … It should begin with “or.”
Can we ever trust anything or maybe we have to trust… the alternative is worse.
Brilliant work here, absolutely brilliant.
Thank you… thank you very much.
Sounds a little like the headlines here in the States. Nicevwriting.
It’s very applicable to some events in Europe as well….
Sad.
I totally agree with kirizar. The rat-a-tat rhythm of the lines tie the piece together.
A chilling thought remembering what polished boots can mean…
Very nicely done. I like the flow of the piece.
Thank you, and thank you for the picture.
Great take on the prompt Bjorn. I love the way this flows.
Thank you… I’m less liking the reason for the poem
An all-embracing poem that could refer to Syrians or Mexicans or Muslims, or any other of the people fleeing one life for another.
Yes… it is probably a poem that bears reading more times…
Timely poem! Great writing
Thank you 🙂
Nice poem. I took it as a rebuke for us building walls and such to falsely feel safe. Almost like worshipping false idols.
It’s one of many walls we are building… and yes I think the wall itself is a false idol…
Yes, it’s all in there. Après nous le déluge.
And next year it will be Front Nationale in France…
The militaristic beats here, the impending sense of doom and conflict, metaphorically reflects my emotions all week… powerful delivery, Björn. I choose to see it just the way you wrote and delivered it. Powerful!
Yes we are at point were we once again are walking to the marches instead of dancing.
i wonder how long the wall can stand in the ever changing landscape.
The emperor of China tried to build a wall, but it crumbled anyway.
Reading this several days out I am just going to enjoy it for its poetry. Ths week has been exhausting!
I do understand that… we need to breathe sometimes.
Indeed
NIce poem, Bjorn. You’ve captured every reference I feel you could have and worked it into a great statement
There is so much to be captured from those old references.
Tilting at windmills, eh? When we’re scared and feel threatened, it’s easy to see anything as dangerous, to want to strike first to protect ourselves. It’s the survival instinct kicking in I guess. Nicely ambiguous and dark, an exploration of instinct and the psychology of warfare. Great stuff
Very topical and well crafted.
I’m reminded of Robert Frost’s poem ‘Mending Wall’, and I’m hoping the world will come to its senses soon and start to work together instead of against each other. Wonderfully built images and ideas, Bjorn.
No prizes for guessing where this came from…!
Powerful words, very nice.
I find this the most tragic part:
“we’re under siege
but still we’re safe
defended by our fence.”
There are those who prefer to stay walled off from the world. The problem is it’s not possible anymore. It’s more practical to try and get along with others. Your story seems a metaphor for the first way of thinking, Bjorn. Good writing. 🙂 — Suzanne