War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy

War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy

1. 'Belfast. Bairut. Phnom Penh.' - War zones, places he's visited

2. Sestets

3. 'Spools of suffering set out' - Sibilance, so much suffering, unnatural order

4. 'Ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel' - Not real pain, not like what he's seen, small pain goes

5. 'As though this were a church and he a priest' - Simile, funeral, ceremony, ritual

6. 'All flesh is grass' - Return to ground, Bible

7. 'Alone' - Contrast to war zones, feels alone

8. 'Red and softly glows' - Metaphor, blood, contrast

9. Regular - Order on photographs

10. ABBCDD rhyme - Same everyday, C represents mental break in routine

11. 'Tremble' - Verb, trauma

12. 'Explode beneath the feet of running children' - Violent imagery, shocking

13. Based on friendship with war photographer

14. Reference to Napalm and Vietnam

15. 'Nightmare heat' - Metaphor

16. 'He remembers the cries' - PTSD, haunted by memories, photo comes alive

17. 'Stained' - Verb, lasts forever, stained into memory, mind

18. 'Must' - Modal verb, has to do it

19. 'Hundred agonies in black and white' - Metaphor

20. 'Pick out' - Lack of care, emotion, chosing

21. 'Prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers' Internal rhyme, upset for a second, people move on, forget, contrast to photographer

22. 'Stares impassively' - Verb, adjective, emotionless, numb, desensitized

23. 'He earns his living and they do not care' - For money, people at war zones don't are, people at home don't care