Counting bodies
piece by piece:
two arms
a head, hands and toes
and buckets of fluid
mixed with soil,
parts distinguishable by DNA,
sorted as friend or foe,
an aftermath
amalgamated into
one collective of past
and passing.
… and we observe,
and cannot comprehend
until one familiar face
emerges from the terror
we insist
is just another war.
Today it is open Link Night at dVerse were Grace shares some poems by Louise Glück who recently passed.
I am continuing with a war poem, and I would like to honor this of a former dVersian who was among the victims of Hamas’ attack on October 7. Her name was Debbie Shahar and she blogged from the site https://butterfly2cocoon.wordpress.com/. I only came across her writing a few times, but her story is now on the world news.
War has so many victims.
October 26, 2023
Björn Rudbergs writings 
War is too far away, even impersonal until we know the person that was affected. War is just terribly sad and unending. Thank you Bjorn for the poem and giving a tribute to Debbie’s passing.
Exactly. Or as Joseph Stalin said: “a single death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic”
Another powerful war poem, Björn, and the idea of ‘counting bodies piece by piece’ is very effective, and horrific.
I think this is the current situation in many places.
Yes war is grim as these words dig deep
And lest we forget, Debbie died not in war but in a massacre
I agree, but both Israel and Hamas has named it a war…
of course now they have but it began as a terrorist massacre as Debbie and her family would have been marking their most significant high holy day
At the time of the Great War, it was expected that war would be fought by armies. This exulting at the massacre and torture of unarmed civilians, children, babies is how war was conducted in Antiquity. The idea that in thousands of years we have not gained in humanity is terrifying.
I fear that this movement to a war against civilians started already after the Great war (and maybe we just believe it was fought between soldiers only) but it seems that there are no boundaries any longer.
No, that’s true, there have always been civilian massacres on the side, but it’s the glorification of horror that is so hard to bear.
In horrific detail you wrote it so well. Thanks for bringing our attention to Debbie. I only came across her poetry a few times as well, many years ago.
That ending really sends it home. Literally.
“ sorted as friend or foe,”
This stood out to me, I think because it is a sad fact that we view people as such, war or no war.
“an aftermath
amalgamated”
I like the alliteration.
“one collective of past
and passing.”
Past and passing, could be time, could be the passing away of people, could be both. Amalgamated makes that work well.
It was difficult to read your poem describing the horrors of war. My heart breaks for Debbie, her loved ones and the innocents murdered ….. the world over.
War in a nutshell. The horror you aptly render. Thanks for sharing Debbie’s story. Religion seeming more and more like the the root of evil.
Succinct and strong bringing forth the terrible realities of war. Sorted as friend or foe…that hits. Thank you too for honoring Debbie, such a tragic story.
That was sad and horrifying and true.
this so called “war” has got my back up. i hope one day the world learns to get along.
thank you for sharing Debbie’s story
OMG: gruesome reality
Much💛love
“just another war” – true yet horrific. It is surreal if you stop and think about how everything is normal in one part while there is a war raging in another part of the world. Sad.
How callous we can be until war touches us not remotely but personally. Until then, loss is just “parts distinguishable by DNA,/sorted as friend or foe” — A devastating indictment, Björn.
The horrors you describe are often avoided by many people, who would like to rationalize it all away as someone else’s problem. Well done and a fitting tribute to the couple murdered by Hamas terrorists.
Your poem exactly mirrored my feelings upon reading that a dVerse Poets member had died in that current horror. Just having a distant association with such a tragedy brings it closer and renders it more horrible. That, combined with the photo, forces us to confront what we are trying to forget!!
cannot comprehend
until one familiar face
emerges from the terror
Collateral damage may not bring the reality into focus hard enough until someone familiar to us like Debbie comes about. It is sad!
Hank
Thank you for honoring her Bjorn.