LA eLearning Poetry Response: Rainbow Death

Rainbow Death

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!

Hubert Wilson

Task 1

Background Information and Conflict

This small poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering – not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”.

Wikipedia reports, “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War.

According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities, and 500,000 children born with birth defects.

From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange (as well as Agents Purple, Pink, and Green) dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.”

This poem may remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over. Fighting in the human spirit still continues for decades – they are the aftermath of war. The people suffer way beyond casualties suffered during the war. Our forefathers cause the war, and their future generations suffer the consequences. War is brutal.

Poet’s Background

I am a Vietnam War veteran (as are my four brothers) who served in the USAF Security Service. I, along with a dozen or so intelligence school grads, prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of us were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a MORE contaminated environment than Da Nang! My health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago my central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. NO VA physician has ever rendered ANY medical assistance! My number one educated guess is the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during my year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure. Since my brain still functions moderately well (and I have mobility issues), I have turned to writing just like my late Father and the late singer (and writer) Johnny Cash.

http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange

Task 2	Analysis
Point of View	The poem adopts a first-hand account of war’s evil, for the poet was the Ssgt USAF, from 1968 to 1972, and approaches the horrendous situation with a serious and calm tone, reflecting truly the aftermath of a war. He views it from the civilian’s point of view, as he describes the suffering they will experience even though the war has ended. His account is definitely reliable as he knows the way an army operates, for he was in one. He wants readers to know the harsh truth of war.
Situation and Setting	The poem talks from the present into the past, about the Vietnam War, and thus has the historical approach with a tinge of emotion and a lot of pain. The conflict in the poem is harsh, real, and very hard to accept for those who are affected by war, but still have to accept it anyway. From the last three lines of the poem, one can tell that there is no practical resolution to the conflict and problem. The use of Agent Orange causes many disabilities and birth defects, and even people who are not defected are haunted with memories whenever they see those who are. The people affected by the war are always in misery, for they are forced to see and recollect the memories of war.
Language and Diction	There are hardly any connotations in the poem, and it sounds like a monologue. There are a couple of exclamations, which serve as a minor climax to the poem. The poem is constructed as a recount. America is personified for the country “did not foresee” and expected “others to pay a high price”. Colours such as green, pink, purple and finally orange paint the colours of the title “Rainbow Death”. Potpourri is a mixture of dried plant material, but “death potpourri” refers to the endless deaths and suffering war has inflicted. Apart from “thinking twice”, “Execrable effects” is an instance of alliteration, and is followed by the ending phrase “agent orange spray”, and gives the poem a slight impact at the end. The poem uses a solemn and depressing tone, serious and designed to evoke remorse out of those cruel enough to use poisonous sprays.
Personal Response	A four-year war lasts forty years long, and a lifetime long for those who suffer permanent damage from it. War is cruel. People who are blinded by this cruelty in turn inflict pain on the innocent, and blind the innocent for life. The title of the poem is oxymoronic, for rainbows are normally associated with joy, happy childhoods, and sunshine after a rainstorm, but a rainbow death definitely means something completely different. The rainbow causes the deaths of the young and illness to the people. The rainbow is not something that people look forward to, but dread seeing it, for the rainbow is Agent Orange, amidst other poison gases. War is harsh and unforgiving. Above all, war is an unfair affair. The innocent are the ones that get permanently punished, while the guilty ones get away with death or a jail sentence. Have you gone for an operation before? Or if you have taken some medication, you might get the side-effect of drowsiness. Here, the poet wants to say that a single war has countless, dreadful side-effects. Dreadful.