I was profoundly affected by the movie Saving Private Ryan (yeah, weird, I know) and became a sort of D-Day buff for awhile. I decided to write a series of poems giving a voice to those who suffered. I thought I could make it real. This poem is about the


Boarding the Higgins Boat to Hell 1944

We'd done it hundreds of times, surely
Climbed down the nets
It's about as hard as it looks like it is
times three
in a calm sea
with only thirty-five pounds strapped to your back
Times thirteen
in a moderate chop
eighty-five pounds, at least, strapped
and tucked and tied
everywhere
That first swing out
around and down is the hardest
Change out your legs again
It's automatic
Reach below
Reach below
Reach below some more
Watch the wave
Time the jump
Perfect, you're there
But when is it ever like that
I mean, really, when it really counts
Restless as we were
already reaching ahead toward history
The sea, too, was nervous
Jumpy
Slamming the boats together
Shoving the deck up into the sky
and sucking it back down again
Who could time a proper jump like that
Under those circumstances
Even sea-legs bust and break apart
But they never show you that part
or others
on those old TV news reels





Poetry by Kathryn Watson
Read 648 times
Written on 2007-03-25 at 04:31

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