don't hide from gleams of wings

or shudder at the vision of veils,

fitful as glances days leak away

against woe a churchyard pales

there's a woman lives next door

Sadie claims she's from Berlin

in her dustbin I found a badge

a Nazi emblem with a gold pin

she seems to live at a low ebb

one not noted for her candour

says her daughter got adopted

I listen, t...

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Suspected of attack
On fascist Graziani
He was in house arrest
As the case was with
Suspects the rest.

A prisoner of war
Then  via Somalia
He was sent to Rome
Found a black lion
If left at home.


Together with
A prison inmate
From Yugoslavia
Called Julio
He made a rope
Out of a blanket
The reason
To descend down
And escape
From a tower prison.

In a show of contempt
...

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By Alem Hailu

The poem below decrying war was written by Lithuanian poet Salomeja Neris when her country was invaded by Nazi Germany. By way of showing how it is possible to explicate a narrative poem and invite readers reread the poem and grasp the meaning I will explicate her poem Spring as follows.

Spring

I Spring

Once again will lilac sing,

And brooks will babble, brooks, w...

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ALMOST ASHES

A room, just a room. Feel the sense of history

here, heavy as lead and as poignant as pain.

Aspects come into focus, heavy thick carpets,

waxed English tables. Silence. Total.

A view on a room, from the doorway after.

What went on here? What decisions were made?

History’s biggest gamble, to fail paid in blood

and men and tears.

To suc...

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