Port au Prince

[hack]

The wicked and the faithful
pounded by the same pestle
Thrown to the mortar
by capricious handfuls

Archbishop and street whore
and children crushed
and drained of life's last drop
Pressed into one paste

Ablutions performed
in their mingled blood
What of goodwill toward men,
What of innocence?

[kafkaroach]

Totally dig the poem. Feels rather ancient, primordial even, which I think serve to create a resounding cry. Good stuff and keep it going

[Bar22do]

The wicked and the faithful
pounded by the same pestle
Thrown to the mortar
by capricious handfuls

Archbishop and street whore
and children crushed
and drained of life's last drop
Pressed into one paste

Ablutions performed
in their mingled blood
What of goodwill toward men,
What of innocence?

The feeling of helplessness is so strong here, Hack. We can only cry, or ask. Haitians won't have excess energy to deal with their post-shock, they have already gone back to their struggle for mere survival, the world will do what the world can do, close to nothing. I wish I were wrong. Thank you for your poem.

[PrinceMyshkin]

That closing line is the coup de grace of this aching, heartfelt poem.

[blank|verse]

Good stuff, Hack.

The strongest element of the poem is the conceit - the extended 'pestle and mortar' metaphor that runs throughout. I think the line 'Pressed into one paste' is very effective - a gruesome image, but the alliteration here helps convey the meaning very successfully. The repetition of the plosive 'p' sound effectively imitates the repeated battering of the pestle. Perhaps shortening the line to just 'Pressed into paste' would emphasize this even more.

I think it's a strong ending, asking rhetorical questions rather than stating your own conclusion, but I'm not sure who the questions are aimed at. 'What of goodwill?' suggests that international aid has been slow to reach them, which is understandable, if a little unfair.

However, 'What of innocence?' - well, for me, the start of your poem rather beggars the question. You've told us that the earthquake has been a great leveller affecting the innocent ('children') as much as anyone else ('Archbishop' and 'street whore'), so innocence meets the same end as everything else.

Also a minor thing - 'handfuls' is an adjective, so sticks out in context; why not 'capricious hands'?

But on the whole, it's a good response - it would be very easy to get sentimental and mawkish about this and you avoid those very well. The tone of the poem is well measured, reaching a conclusion nicely, and the poetry comes through strongly.