War Poem

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Some background information on the poem...

This was written from the perspective of a soldier who took part in the Vietnam war. He was a victim to the many herbicide that were released as a weapon during the war. Because of the "Agent Orange", which was the code name for herbicide and defoliant used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War, the poet experienced negative effects which eventually immobilized him. Such an experience was most horrifying and thus the poet criticizes the "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program.

Point of View

The entire poem is told from the poet's point of view when he was personally involved in the war, witnessing the horrible destruction of herbicide. People were struck with diseases and poor, innocent children came into world with defects, all because of the many colorful herbicides that were sprayed by America without a concern. Witnessing for himself and even experiencing the painful suffering, it explains why the author wrote the poem in a highly disapproving and pessimistic manner. The rage at America's decision to use herbicidal warfare is shown throughout the poem.

Situation/Setting

The historical setting is in the period after Vietnam War, the war between communists and anti-communists. 20 million U.S. gallons of concentrated herbicides over 6 million acres of crops and trees, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam's land. This was the situation at the time. Agriculture was removed in that region, along with the health and livelihood of the civilians. Eco-systems were on the brink of destruction.

Language and diction

The AABB rhyme scheme was able to emphasize the last word of every line, like "dead" and "spread". There is also a metaphor in the poem: "death potpourri" which compared the collection of things to the different types of people that were killed in the war. The careful choice of words managed to bring out the negative and sarcastic tone of the poet. "mourn" "unborn" "disregarding" "deceit" "Nefariously"

Personal Response

War is meaningless. Every battle would mean loss of lives. Blood would be shed for no reason. Land, power would not make any difference if there were no longer any soldiers left to use it. Living in fear and agony remained for those who lived. Stability and peace would simply drift further away, slipping through our fingers, soon becoming a distant dream. Lives will never be the same. The impact does not go away.

So WHY?