Thoughts Of Unrest
You scream, “Revolution!” at the top of your lungs
Have you lived through one?
Do you understand what it will do
to your life, the lives of others?
Have you really thought it through?
Neighbor against neighbor, house to house
Betrayals and recriminations, trials and executions
The horrors of Guernica, Robespierre’s September massacres,
The proscriptions of Marius and Sulla,
All of this bloody, horrible potential, and still
You scream, “Revolution!” at the top of your lungs
Neighbor against neighbor, house to house
You eagerly anticipate the carnage,
Lips wet and slightly parted, breathing heavily
I am afraid that perhaps you have thought too much
Of what revolution will bring, and you await it too eagerly
A gigan is a 16-line poem, divided into 7 stanzas as follows: couplet, tercet, couplet, couplet, couplet, tercet, couplet. The first and eleventh lines are the same, and the sixth and twelfth are also repeats.
Kind Regards from South Africa.
I enjoyed your poem. One man’s revolution is another man’s war, is a theme that follows in your poem.
The poem is very contemporary as the world rushes into one war after another.
I also enjoyed how you wove the gigan format into your poem. During the marathon, I was introduced to the gigan format and it has now become one of my favorites.
Thank you! I was really trying to communicate that, and I’m really glad it connected for you!
I agree with Anwar Suleman – timely piece and sad that we are here again – history shouldn’t repeat itself with the wisdom we now have…
As Twain said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does often rhyme.”
And we’re not any smarter or wiser, we just have more history we can ignore.