Chalked – the contours
of corpses, soldiers left
on the silent streets
now settling slowly under
dust a whiter shade of pale
dust that smothers mothers
dust that covers daughters soiled
dust that covers soot
dust that hides the voids
left from loot they kept.
Francisco Goya
Today I double-dip in the quadrille hosted by De (using the word chalk) and the prompt by Merril that asks us to incorporate the name of a rose into a poem, both at dVerse.
April 19, 2022
Björn Rudbergs writings 
This is so perfectly done with both prompts–that chalk dust, yes indeed.
And I love that song. Of course, it came to mind when I wrote the prompt.
Whew. Excellent prompt mashup. Such powerful images here.
It’s just perfect, and I love that song also.
Wow. What a powerful poem. Dust to soothe pains. I hope we one day can blow it all away and let wounds heal. Powerful writing.
I almost went in this direction too… but I feel like I’ve been writing about the war practically non-stop. *sigh*
I love this line: “dust a whiter shade of pale”
The whole piece is crazy good, but it hurts my heart so much.
VERY successful double-dipping. And oh my yes….we did go into the same theme. The repetition of “dust” is very effective here. To write “the contours of corpses” and then include them as soldiers, mothers, daughters….Very powerfully written, Bjorn!
This dust will be in the wind long after that madman is gone.
You capture, with your words, what is felt, but also what is seen, and done. Very tight, precise poetry, Bjorn, designed for effect, if I may say so, and effective, very. The looting is just grotesque, perhaps it pales beside the other crimes but it does also stand out as part of the propagated great lie from the Kremlin. I read that quite a fair amount of looted goods from Ukraine do not make it back to homes….the Russian postal service helps itself accordingly to a part of the looted goods they are transporting…the surrealism knows no bounds. On Russian shopping sites some of these Ukrainian goods are now for sale — and proudly stated to be of Ukrainian origin. I fear there is a long track back to anything resembling normality…
The dust refrain lines are filled with great and tragic imagery. Well done Bjorn.
Wishing I could find words to respond.
Double dipping worked quite well here. The images and message is powerful. The raw truth is painful and i wonder if the dust will ever settle.
I love that song, i often play the version live in Denmark 2006.
Reality.
This dust will be hard to remove.
I read your quadrille with a tear running down my cheek, a lump in my throat ….
Poignant poem.
The horrors of war are going to haunt us for a very long time. Love it and the song too.
We will be seeing those chalk mark outlines for a very long time I fear. (K)
Love this creative play with words; the rhythm of this piece, and the imagery it creates!
Haunting and painful poem – where the dust can’t hide the horror.
Fills both prompts perfectly. the use of “dust” works so well here.