Here Bullet Summary
The poems from Here, Bullet represent death in many different lights. The first poem of the packet, death isnt really mentioned until the poem says, “Speak the word for death, Maut, and you will here the cursives of the wind driven into the veil of the unknown.” Before this line, the poem said, “Where we would end a war, another might take as a beginning or as an echo of history, recited again.” When these two lines are combined, death seems to be presented as a part of history and tradition for the middle east.
In the second poem of the packet, death is represent as sudden and unexpected during the war. The poem says, “You will hear the RPG coming for you. Not so the road side bomb.” It also goes on to say, “There are bombs under the overpasses
in trashpiles, in bricks, in cars”. This poem says that death came in any size, shape, or form. During the vietnam war, it was also hard for the troops to see their enemies. In the poem, “Camouflauging the Chimera, the poem says, “Small animals took refuge against our bodies; we held our breathe, ready to spring the L-shaped ambush..”. This poem is similar because there is still an element of surprise in this poem. The surprise attack causes VC to die unexpectedly because they are running into an ambush. These two poems are different because in the middle eastern poem, the americans were getting surprise attacked. In the poem by Komunyakaa, the americans were doing the surprising.
The poem “Starlight Scope Myopia” reprents death differently. It says “Making night work for us, the starlight scope brings men into killing range.” This poem represents war in a different light. This poem is from a sniper’s point of view. The sniper can actually see its target. During the Vietnam war, troops were able to see and distinguish enemies from friendlies. During the Middle Eastern wars the troops couldn’t differentiate where the threat woukd come from. Also in “Hanoi Hanna”, the troops can see their enemy.
The third poem of the packet “Here, Bullet” does not mention death but conclusions can be drawn. The author of the poem is addresing the bullet as if it is a human being . In the context of the poem, death could be concluded as
The last poem in the packet represents death as inevitible. It talks about how everything eventually returns back to sand.
In the second poem of the packet, death is represent as sudden and unexpected during the war. The poem says, “You will hear the RPG coming for you. Not so the road side bomb.” It also goes on to say, “There are bombs under the overpasses
in trashpiles, in bricks, in cars”. This poem says that death came in any size, shape, or form. During the vietnam war, it was also hard for the troops to see their enemies. In the poem, “Camouflauging the Chimera, the poem says, “Small animals took refuge against our bodies; we held our breathe, ready to spring the L-shaped ambush..”. This poem is similar because there is still an element of surprise in this poem. The surprise attack causes VC to die unexpectedly because they are running into an ambush. These two poems are different because in the middle eastern poem, the americans were getting surprise attacked. In the poem by Komunyakaa, the americans were doing the surprising.
The poem “Starlight Scope Myopia” reprents death differently. It says “Making night work for us, the starlight scope brings men into killing range.” This poem represents war in a different light. This poem is from a sniper’s point of view. The sniper can actually see its target. During the Vietnam war, troops were able to see and distinguish enemies from friendlies. During the Middle Eastern wars the troops couldn’t differentiate where the threat woukd come from. Also in “Hanoi Hanna”, the troops can see their enemy.
The third poem of the packet “Here, Bullet” does not mention death but conclusions can be drawn. The author of the poem is addresing the bullet as if it is a human being . In the context of the poem, death could be concluded as
The last poem in the packet represents death as inevitible. It talks about how everything eventually returns back to sand.