The Rose

4 responses to “The Milliseconds”

1. 

   overcome813

   July 5, 2011

   Under the Ad Lib homepage, in June 2011, I posted these two comments about “The Milliseconds”:

   -“The Milliseconds” is a new etheree I recently finished! It’s premise revolves around expressing the ironic connection between soldier and enemy: they spend their lives trying to eliminate one another. I decided the best way to express this relationship would be to focus on a few milliseconds in time, from the instant that Navy SEAL Team 6-er fired his M4 assault machine gun to a few moments after Osama bin Laden lay dead on the floor of his bedroom. The poem chronicles the aiming and firing of that machine gun, the bullets’ flight through the air, the fatal wounds to, first, bin Laden’s head (just above his left eye), and second, to his chest, and the notification to President Obama confirming bin Laden’s death (“Geronimo-E K.I.A.”). Usually, I include more sensory images in my poetry, but this did not seem to fit this particular poem. Instead, the moment’s intense focus, the invisible speed of which it was conducted, and the complete regular impulsiveness of the situation led me to eliminate these usual inclusions. It should be noted that this poem was well researched, so it took me about a month and a half to complete. I drew my inspiration from the deaths of Osama bin Laden and John Hannah, an honorably discharged Navy officer who recently died in a homeless shelter of lung cancer. My ideas evolved through each piece of information I consumed, until they overflowed into the finished product. A significant piece of information for me was Ezekial 33: 11, which says, ” “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ ” “. It really clarified the humanity of the situation I was dealing with, and gave me an additional perspective on it. Finally, in the title, “The Milliseconds”, I hope to express how quickly this important event occurred, faded, and expanded into so much more (hence, the etheree format) as people like me around the world realized what happened. The New York Times stopped the presses and re-did their entire morning paper just because of what happened in about 100 to 500 milliseconds: Osama bin Laden died. It was that pivotal.

   -It’s important to understand that, because “The Milliseconds” is so well researched, it may not be for the average reader. For this etheree, my audience is the educated reader; in other words, to really understand this poem, the reader needs to understand, in detail, the events of May 2, 2011, as well as any significant, applicable surrounding information. After publishing this poem, I’m beginning to feel like I just told a bad joke, because I have to preface each reading of this poem with a brief explanation. Thus, allow me to fill you in. I have published a separate page to give you the blow-by-blow analysis of “The Milliseconds”, entitled ” “The Milliseconds” for Dummies”. You can find this explanation under “Other Work”. Perhaps this will clarify any surrounding confusion readers may have concerning this poem so they can better enjoy it. 🙂

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2. 

   overcome813

   August 3, 2011

   Watch This:

   http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2011/08/02/exp.tsr.todd.bin.laden.raid.cnn.html

   Reply
3. 

   Ian Lang

   August 8, 2011

   Really interesting, does put you “behind the gun”

   Reply
4. 

   overcome813

   November 14, 2011

   Posted Under “Welcome” from June 2011 to November 2011 and saved here:
   “A NEW etheree, “The Milliseconds” is now available. If you’re interested, you can read about how I wrote it in the comment I posted underneath the poem. Or, to gain a more in depth look, the essay ” “The Milliseconds” for Dummies” explains it all in detail. You can find this essay under “Other Work”. ENJOY! :D”

   And, thanks Ian. 🙂

   Reply