Analysis of Collateral Damage
The medics work hard to stop the bleeding
The girl's face is gray with pain
Beneath the bandages
That make a mummy of her
I hold her hand tightly
The thud of the rotor blades drown her moans
I look away
A car bomb shredded through the bazaar
Lashed and tore her tiny body
Her right leg a mangled horror
Her mother's head is missing
We set a perimeter
Secure the scene
Call for Medevac
"Someone's gotta go with the kid"
I raise my hand without thinking
Really I just want to sit down
She clings to my hand with ebbing strength
Her dark eyes glazed over
Her jaw slack
Tears streak her dirty face and mine
She passes out
I squeeze her little hand
I mutter half-remembered prayers
"Please God, don't let her die"
The Blackhawk lands at the FOB
The medics rush her to the surgery
"She'll lose that leg, for sure, but she'll pull through."
"She's lucky."
A little girl who hobbles on one leg
Awkward hops on crutches far too long
Orphaned and pitiful
She's only 8
Scheme | AXXB CXX XCBA BXAXAX XBXXXXXX XCXC XXXC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0101111010 0111111 010100 1101010 110110 0110101101 1101 011101001 10101010 01101010 0101110 1100100 0101 111 1101101 11110110 10111111 111111101 011110 011 11010101 1101 110101 11010101 111101 011101 0101010100 1111111111 110 0101110111 101110111 100100 110 |
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 966 |
Words | 192 |
Sentences | 3 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 3, 4, 6, 8, 4, 4 |
Lines Amount | 33 |
Letters per line (avg) | 23 |
Words per line (avg) | 5 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 108 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 26 |
About this poem
My recollection of the aftermath of a car bombing in Afghanistan. June, 2009.
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"Collateral Damage" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 4 Jun 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/182645/collateral-damage>.
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