HOMELEARNING TASK Poetry analysis we slept with our boots on

Poem Chosen:
Difficulty Rating: * * *
We Slept With Our Boots On

They unloaded the dead and maimed right before our eyes
They washed out the blood, we loaded our ruck’s and then took to the skies
Over the mountains, villages, and valleys we flew
Where we would land we had not a clue
Bullets are flying, the LZ is hot
We’re leaving this bird whether we like it or not
30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit
Get ready to go and make it quick
My heart is pumping adrenalin through all of my veins
I run as fast as I can through the lead rain
The noise is tremendous, terror I can’t define
The only reason I survived that day was divine
I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more
You do what you have to do, with that I will say no more
We fought from the valleys to the mountain peaks
From house to cave, to car to creek
Dirty and tired and hungry and scared
We slept with our boots on so we were always prepared
Those majestic mountains so steep, so high they kiss the skies
The Hindu Kush has changed so many lives
Up the mountains with heavy loads we trod
Who knew hell was so close to God
Beauty and terror are a strong mixed drink
So we drank it like drunkards and tried not to think
Good men and bad men, Mothers lost son’s
Everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns
Washed in the blood, and baptized by fire
I will never forget those who were called higher
They say blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood
Brothers aren’t born they’re earned. In the poppy fields, the tears, and the mud
And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell
Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell

Steve Carlsen

TASK 1-
• Perform research on the poem and write a report

• Detail the conflict represented in the poems of my choice
The author of this poem was a soldier in D Company, 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. He was deployed to Kosovo as part of peace keeping operations and Afghanistan where he participated in combat operations. Finally, in 2003, he was honourably discharged from the Army.
Kosovo
A disputed territory in the Balkans, the territory came under the administration of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo after the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. A force of soldiers, the Kosovo Force was deployed by NATO to help maintain the peace.
Afghanistan
Having a very tumultuous political environment, there has been numerous wars and coups staged in Afghanistan, currently ruled by the Taleban, a hardline Pakistani-sponsored movement that ended the country’s civil war and anarchy. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, DC , a US , Allied and anti-taleban Northern Alliance toppled the Taleban for sheltering Osama Bin Laden- leader of the Al Qaeda responsible for the terrorist attacks.
Afghanistan has rugged mountains and plains in the north and southwest. The Hindu Kush as mentioned in the poem is a series of mountains, where earthquakes can occur. The Hindu Kush Mountains run northeast to southwest, dividing the northern provinces from the rest of the country.
Looking at the timeline for December in the year Steve Carlsen served, it is fraught with attacks by many different groups of armed militants. In a month of 31 days, there are 9 different and mostly furious gun battles between militants and the US force. Its days are littered with rocket attacks and air strikes on the US’ part.
Meanings of Military slangs:
LZ- Landing Zone
Bird- aircraft
Lock N Load-The firing line command to put the weapon's safety to the on position and load the weapon with ammunition
Hot- area under fire

Task 2
1. Point of View-
The author is writing in hindsight. He himself served through the conflict, and the point of view that he has chosen to use is fitting as it allows the reader to have a further understanding of the conflict.
Evidence: The poem is written in the past tense and includes his own personal thought on the conflict.
2. Situation and Setting
The poem is set in a conflict. “The LZ is hot”, with the author running through the “lead rain” which describes the hail of bullets that the enemy if firing. Even though the author is scared, there is no time for fear and he allows instinct to take over, “pulling the trigger and reloading” the killing is so great that it becomes like a routine.
3. Language/Diction
He questions himself a lot, wondering how he could have survived such impossible odds. He likens the conflict to a hell, with death and pain abound. He gives many of his own personal feelings and thoughts, about how he would treat his own death- if he died as “Another paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I’ve spent my time in hell”.
4. Personal Response
Conflict alone is scary enough. However, the adrenalin numbs the fear. Steve Carlsen is brave to choose to write such a poem after his conflict after all, it was on a “dare” that he wrote this poem. To look back into this conflict, Steve Carlsen realizes the full impact of the fighting. It was a “hell”. His many personal reflections on the conflict gives us how a man feels after fighting, killing and living through a conflict. I have to agree with his views.
I particularly liked his feeling that “hell was so close to god”. This just shows the entire conflicts meaning in 6 words. Hell, which was the fight that the man is going through, is so scary and terrifying. It could take his life in a gunshot, or he could take numerous with his own hand. God would be him dying, and leaving this battlefield for good.
Once again, he reiterates his point, with an enactment of what he would do when if he went to the gates of heaven. It is fine humour in the sense that he is sort of boasting of his time in “hell” to Saint Peter, “reporting for duty” in heaven. Almost as if there ought to be a place reserved for him in the fluffy kingdom of perfection we call heaven.

Acknowledgements
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosovo_Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_in_Afghanistan
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_zone
www.answers.com/topic/lock-and-load
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Glossary/Sixties_Term_Gloss_D_J.html
http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Glossary/Sixties_Term_Gloss_D_J.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paratrooper