image from bbc.co.uk
Death Descending
“My father pulled into Pearl four days after the bombing
& there was no lull--everything was still burning.”
--John Lasseter.
I remember my grandfather saying,
“Hell, what is happiness?
It’s just a lull between chaos & pain.”
As a kid, who could be lulled to sleep watching
paint dry, I never understood.
The lull between the
bombs dropping is more fearsome
than the explosions.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over on dVerse Poets Pub Q2
Oh... indeed.. the terror of the lull between bombs... but it can also be the only happy moment... maybe we only understand afterwards how important that lull is.
ReplyDeleteOh wow. This is powerful, Glenn.
ReplyDeleteYou've packed much into just 44 words (not counting the quote). Sometimes the lull can indeed be worse than the chaos is comes between. Peace, Linda
ReplyDeleteIt's so true, those moments of apparent peace when you know the other shoe is about to drop. Those lulls give fear a chance to build.
ReplyDeletewow! this surely gives us something to ponder
ReplyDeleteThat lull can be terrifying, I imagine. Used to have nightmares about that in my youth.
ReplyDeleteYour grandfather was a wise man!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure those who lived with through the blitzkrieg could most definitely identify with this. of course, bombs drop in our real lives when we get bad news and then wait for the other shoe to drop and get worse news. Since my mother was diagnosed with Alzeheimers and my husband diagnosed with his condition, I could wait for another bomb to drop. I am using the lull to build up spiritual strength and enjoy the lull and be happy about a little bit of peace. I refuse to live in fear waiting for the other shoe.
ReplyDeleteThat kind of lull is terrifying, yikes ~ Love the title too Glenn ~
ReplyDeleteThe lull before the storm. Such a frightening episode the 'storm' of a war shared here, Glenn!
ReplyDeleteHank
The shock of realisation!
ReplyDeleteSo powerful. Many many many years ago, when I was teaching high school, a student of mine shared with me that his uncle was entombed at Pearl Harbor. He'd written a very touching essay about his uncle. Years later, we had occasion to visit Pearl Harbor....a sobering place. And I thought of his uncle, there, beneath the calm waters. Thinking of the utter chaos that reigned on that infamous day.
ReplyDeleteVery powerful poem here. Thank you for the post.
I don't know many who could snatch those bits of "peace" between bombs dropping and not go into a place of terror instead. This is exactly the experience that PTSD was born from...heavy.
ReplyDeletea scary 'lull' moment indeed which is going on in many parts of the world...
ReplyDeleteAnticipation is often worse than reality. Well, unless that bomb falls on your house...
ReplyDeleteA lot of painful truths i this quadrille. I remember that lull between bombs, while sleeping under the stairs as a small child. The end of the lull was always terrifying, and didn't allow us to enjoy the quiet while fearing the resumption of hell let loose.
ReplyDeleteIt's that moment of knowing and yet not knowing ...you capture the tension well
ReplyDeleteOh, YES. The waiting...for the other shoe...the other bomb...the other fist...to drop.
ReplyDeleteThought provoking. I enjoyed the perspectives and I am so grateful I did not have to decide how to perceive the "lulls" between the terror.
ReplyDeleteA terror-filled lull I hope I never experience...
ReplyDeleteFinger tip iN water
ReplyDeleteripples waves
chills
finger..
waves
dissipating
fear stays..
pain grows
heArt warms
Tip oFFinger
warms hEarts
edge oF
water
shores
softer..
GRains oF
Hands Holding
greater togeTheR
sOils soUl
taKinG
Reign..
oF LiFe
lulls
Live
Now
Freeallone
SonG ReaL Now..:)
damn.
ReplyDelete~