Poem: Why?

Why?

You tried to spread your hate
What for?
As you are now no more

Planting bombs to kill and maim
Why then?
Like loser boys and not men

Causing death and injury to many
How come?
Were you devoid love from mum

This is not what she wanted
So why?
Did you cause many to die

As you spread your vile poison
For what?
We locked down you were caught

Your evil failing to break us
And why?
Because our resolve will never die

You tried to break our city
And now?
We wonder why what who how


Roger Bennett
Penrhyncoch, Wales 2013
All rights reserved

Poem: Boston

BOSTON

Weaving your way through crowds that throng
Some of whom had been friends to you
Moving as one with hate and spite
Cowards plotting in place of love
And bringing shame to family

Failing to break us who are strong
You took limbs and souls of a few
While we only done what was right
Keeping one hand inside our glove
And responding with unity

Your shame will last for time so long
While remembering those we knew
We shall forget you more each night
The ones that lost the right to love
And now you mean nothing to me

For we Bostonians are strong
Your carnage will not cloud our hue
Nor diminish our strength and might
As we know the meaning of love
And you learnt that you could not flee

Roger Bennett
Penrhyncoch, Wales 2013
All rights reserved

Why?

It was inevitable given the trauma of the Boston Marathon attacks that I would turn yet again to poetry. Over the course of a few days I wrote two poems about the atrocity. They are titled 'Boston' and 'Why?'. I used a different style when writing each of the poems. 'Boston' was written on the afternoon following the capture of the second suspect. The poem is written with four feet per line, and five lines per stanza with the rhyming scheme ABCDE linking each stanza, with the word 'and' at the start of each fifth line.

The poem 'Why?' began with the opening stanza being jotted down as I thought of the words while getting changed to go out on the Saturday evening. The remainder of this second poem was written in a coffee shop on the Sunday afternoon . 'Why?' is written with six words in each of the first and third lines of each stanza. With two questioning words appearing in each second line. The second and third lines rhyme to provide the scheme ABB.

I suppose that writing poetry is my way of dealing with many of the things that happen, and which I find difficult to comprehend and thereby make sense of. It had been a difficult week emotionally, and for some people that will appear quite strange as I am neither American nor do I live in Boston. But I do have a good friend who lives in the city and two other friends who moved away to Florida. This association and the fragility of my mental health may go some way towards explaining the emotion that appears in my poetry and prose.

I intend to upload the poems 'Boston' and 'Why?' to the poetry page of this Blog, and as always all rights are reserved.