Reclusive rabbits, hiding in their holes
Hidden from enemy patrols.
‘Bang Crack!’ Gunfire erupts across the field
Snipers in the trees, machinegun nests concealed.
With a fiery tail and piercing lead beak
The defenseless rabbits they seek.
Tearing through the air, diving from the sky
Talons extended, death from on high.
“These killers on our door heed what I say!
Beware the hounds of war at bay!”
Above our heads the screeching bullets soar.
The rabbits had no place in war.
The predators stalking their prey
The rabbits, were trapped in the fray,
They could not escape the killing,
Watching their brothers die, unwilling.
Ugly beasts wallow on the killing floor.
Machines of death are these boars.
Their tusks are deadly, but slow
The lumbering beasts stuck in the snow.
Hogs snarling, growling in disgust
The decision to flee was a must.
Reinforcements, hope for them to arrive
Scurrying back to my hole, must survive.
Trees all around, the forest exploding,
So far, the pristine snow foreboding.
A devastated forest littered with dead
Along the forest floor he sped.
My content inspiration for this poem is almost a combination between Band of Brothers and Water Ship Down by: Richard Adams. These both inspired me with the war stories of Band of Brothers and the timid attitudes of the rabbits, in which the poem is mainly based upon. I represented the WWII theme with the battle field being inspired by The Battle of the Bulge this is shown with the snow, the forest and the open field in-between the two lines, not to forget the fox holes. Now the main idea I drew from Water Ship Down was really just the rabbit idea. And the rabbits are represented as the soldiers on the front lines, reluctantly yet still there.
My form inspiration was derived from a variety of poems, including but not limited to Dulce et Decorum est by: Wilfred Owen now my rhyme scheme isn’t the same as the ABAB that is used in that poem, but I drew the language that was expressed in the poem, into mine, and for the Metaphors of my poem my inspiration was none other than Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening now it is ok to disagree but I thought this poem was a Metaphor for life. “Whose woods these are I think I know.” The first line is an entrance into a world of mystery yet still so familiar. Here is a Metaphor from my poem, it is quite more obvious, “With a fiery tail and piercing lead beak” this is a metaphor for bullets that was inspired by the Metaphors of Robert Frost’s poem Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening.
My performance inspiration was not as prevalent in influencing my poem, but it is still a part of it. I was inspired particularly by Anis Mojgani and his work such as Rock Out, he just gave so many Similes in that poem and voiced them so well. I do not know if I can speak with that much conviction but the power behind his voice is something to emulate if not strive for. Now I’m not going to be screaming into the mike with an infinite amount of passion but I will be using as much possible heart to deliver my poem because that is the only way I can present it.
Project Reflection
My poems title was Predator and Prey, the main theme of the poem was war, specifically the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. It included many inspirations one specifically from Water Ship Down with the rabbits. Now I used the rabbits as a metaphor for soldiers I used many metaphors for many different aspects or units in war. Now at first the poem was slightly generic however it evolved into a nature based poem on war. I brought an aspect of terror into the poem, but at the same time there was calmness serenity in the air. Now the themes we could from were Peace, War and Violence, I chose a mix of War and Violence including weapons of war, death and survival. But it was not as simple and barbaric as just violence, but instead it brought up complex themes such as life and death and a hint of unwillingness to be in war.
I learned in this project that poetry is actually not as challenging as I thought; instead it was more of a challenge to get in touch with the inner poet inside of me. Not only did I learn how to create poetry but it was a major challenge for me to find a topic of the poem and stick with it. I went through many, many drafts at least 10 different drafts each one improving and the refinement and learning process in the poem was powerful. Not only did I gain major skills in refinement I also learned how to rhyme effectively and I almost got a nice meter, it followed a meter about 8, I am saying about only due to, pronunciation and other such problems.
Well the main lesson that I learned from this experience was that refinement is your best friend not only is it your best friend it is more necessary than anything else that is our habits of heart and mind. I had to create 10 rough drafts until I finally had a product that was even half suitable, but in the end it was quite all right. Now I also learned that even beautiful writing isn’t always beautiful speaking, and vice versa. I learned that pronunciation is key; depending on the language you are using different pronunciations can affect both the rhyme and the meter.
Now I did spoken word, it was good, however I thought that it wasn’t really the type for a spoken word performance, I feel I could have possibly done better doing a kinetic text in after affects. Now I honestly thought that spoken word would be much more challenging than it was really that I needed to perform the poem, and well it was an odd poem to have motions for. But if I had a chance to make a kinetic text I would be worried about making it have too much, I would also be concerned about the audio. But my performance was fine despite my nervousness, I scored a high grade, but at exhibition I felt I didn’t perform to the best of my abilities, I might have been nervous or I just forgot it during the stress of exhibition set up, but I did my best.
