Survivor's Guilt Poem by Roy Blokker

Survivor's Guilt



I am often asked,
Asked quietly by myself
While the dark trembles
Like the cold expectant thing
It is - I am asked
If I feel guilty
Staying home
While so many went.
I let the dark answer for me,
Swallowing my every fear,
Regurgitating each in turn
In my dreams:
I feel no guilt, only sorrow,
Sorrow
That they went they knew
And went
And always go.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: survival
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
This poem comes from my volume, 'Charles Sorley's Ghost.' The set is dominated by remembrance of soldier-poets from WW1 but not completely, and in the course of assembling it I began to think about my own experiences during the Vietnam War era: hence, this poem.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
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Roy Blokker

Roy Blokker

Hilversum, the Netherlands
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