We Slept With Boots On -- Poetry Analysis

Here is the poem, written by Steve Carlsen

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

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Analysis by me :D

This poem is written from the point of view of a soldier who has fought on the frontline in war. This war was the Iraq war, with many dying with each day. This is seen from : “ Hindu Kush” in the poem, which is a present-day mountain range that used to be a frontline for the Iraq war. The poet is deeply against war, as depicted in his tone de-glorifying war. However, he has no choice in what he does, seen from his harsh words “whether we like it or not”. The Poet tries his best to leave out all his personal emotions so we can face the cold, hard facts. He does not really talk about how he feels. The readers see him as a soldier that is not patriotic and keen to fight for his country, but he is involved in much action in the poem. He is an emotionless character, just doing what he is told to do, whether he likes it or not. It has become a daily ritual for him -- fighting in the war and killing people have become morally acceptable to him.

The situation is tense, grim and severe. “LZ is hot” tells us that the situation was very tense as you could die at any moment. LZ refers to landing zone, and the word “hot” tells us there are firing guns. This shows the precarious situation the soldiers were in, as they could die even before they reach the battle site. “Lead Rain” portrays the firing of the enemy as rain, something that is rapid and unavoidable. “Lead” further enhances the grim situation, as it refers to both the bullets fired and poison. The poet stated that many died through enemy fire. After the tense situation at the front of the poem, the poet tries to relax the readers with a change of tone, seen where he talks about the mountains he climbs with loads, and the part he links the war to religion, where he states “Who knew hell was so close to God” . However, this only makes the readers more tense and want to hate war more. “Who knew hell was so close to God” infers that they were in the mountains, up high where God was believed to be, but as they had committed so much killings they were going to end up in hell. The readers will now feel sorry and sympathetic towards those who lost their lives. The speaker sadly recalls all his lost comrades and mourns the loss of their lives. The poem ends on a grim tone, “And when I get to heaven to Saint Peter I will tell, Another Paratrooper reporting for duty sir, I spent my time in hell”.


The poem is written nicely in an AA rhyme scheme, with the last syllabus of the first line rhyming with the last one of the second. This makes the poem appear to be like a boring and monotonous recount, which is how the soldiers felt back then. The tone used suggests that the soldiers had no choice and had to do as they were told. The poem makes extensive use of sound devices, the sound of firing, gunfire and war. All these terms help us to “hear” what the writer actually experiences in the fight. The speaker remains cold about his opinion to make the readers have pity on the soldiers and realize this is the grim truth about war.

Current Affairs -- Are you Brand Consious?

An article in the Sunday Times today discussed the big spenders from China and Indonesia and got me thinking. Of course, these spenders are a great boost to the retail and service scene here and they should be welcomed with open hands. But I can’t help but think why these people are so brand conscious. Many of the China tourists flocked here to grab branded goods like Armani, Louis Vuitton, Burberry etc…. Yes, they are rich; they have the spending power but are branded goods better in quality?? Or are they just following the ‘rich’ crowd blindly and need to flaunt their wealth???

I wonder whether wearing a $50 jeans or $300 jeans will make someone a better person? Sophisticated? Yes , but in what sense? To me, being sophisticated means behaving in a refined manner with a wealth of knowledge and intelligence and able to conduct oneself in an appropriate manner when the situation calls for it.

According to the dictionary, a sophisticated person is one whose ideas, tastes, manners etc are altered by education, experience so as to be worldly-wise. It is the opposite meaning of being naive. Ironically, when I think of those rich who are after branded goods to make themselves look sophisticated, I think of them as being naïve. I think of them as not being able to make sound judgements for themselves, for not all branded items would look nice on them.

It is even more naïve when we read about children when spent their parents money endlessly without bating an eyelid. These children do not have the financial means on their own, yet they chase after branded goods like bees to honey. Their parents seemed to encourage such intolerable attitude. So, in my opinion, both the parents and children in their attempt to look sophisticated are obliviously and naïve.

In short, to be sophisticated or worldly wise, we must be able to make sound judgements using our wits and intelligence. A well read person who carries himself well is worth a thousand words. I hope to practice what I preach, I will not be brand conscious. I prefer being judged by my speech, behavior, eloquence, humility rather than my brand of jeans. I wish to be WISE.

Poetry Appreciation

In this blog post, I will be talking about one of my favourite hobbies, writing and appreciating poetry.

Ever since I was in Primary 4, I developed a flair and passion for writing. It was after tons and tons of novels I read, plays I watched that completely changed my style of writing. My parents also helped tremendously as they constantly brought me to the library and bookstores. Gradually I not only devoured books like a hungry vampire, I started trying out different writing style. I also developed interest in poetry.

At the tender age of ten, I misinterpreted the true meaning of poetry. I thought that Poems were nothing but short sentences with a repeated rhyme scheme every 2 lines. Through the different stages of my life from then to now, I have changed my perception of poetry. My exposure to language arts over the last 1 – 2 years further enhanced my appreciation and love for poetry.

What then is poetry?

Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. It is a form of literary art where language is used for its aesthetic, evocative qualities. Some defined poetry as a fundamental creative art using language. In poetry, certain forms and conventions are used to suggest alternative meanings in words, or to evoke emotional or sensual responses. Poetic devices ranging from assonance, alliteration, rhythm, metaphor, similes etc are used to achieve the desired emotions of the poet and often resulted in multiple interpretations by the readers.

Poets are also influenced by their diverse culture, language and particular genres. For example Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen served during the World War 1 and their experience played a vital role in their poetries. They brought out the emotions, anger, frustration, brutality and cruelness of war that no other poets are more suited to write.

So, I feel that poetry is a very beautiful art where one can be liberal to express one’s feelings and emotions through the use of words. I am sure that life experiences also played a very critical role in one’s work. This is apparent when I browsed through poems I wrote when I was in primary school. Those poems have a hint of playfulness and simplicity and are child like. They reflected my environment and experience then.

Poetry writing is a great ‘get away’ for me. Whenever I am stressed, all I need is a pen and paper and unknowingly I will be penning my thoughts in phrases. I hope to continue to explore and appreciate poetry. I hope to combine my love for music with poetry and hopefully, I can come up with some unique poems. I have a compilation of poems that I have written so far, and who knows I may publish a Max’s Poem book in future.

In The News... Review of Chinese Weightage in PSLE

When our Education Minister Ng Eng Hen announced that his ministry was considering lowering the weighting for the mother tongue language at PSLE, it was met with much debate. It reopened the Pandora’s Box that language issues have come to symbolise in Singapore’s complex, multi lingual society. There are 2 groups of camp, one which opposed and the other strongly in favour.

The ‘opposing camp’ is made up of mainly Chinese community leaders and young bilingual professionals. This group voiced concern that reducing the weighting will cause the already abysmally low standards in the language to decline further. It is also an emotional subject for some who feared the further erosion of Chinese language and culture here. Some supporters of this group included the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the Industry and leaders of Chinese clan Associations.

Advocates of a cut in the weighting for Chinese are mainly from English speaking families who are not just ethnic Chinese but also those from mixed race families. They feel that the current system penalizes pupils who excelled in other subjects other than Chinese. This group also complained that they spent an inordinate amount of time on the language.

For practical reasons, bilingualism was introduced in schools so as to better equipped our students in the globalizing world, be in English when dealing the our western counterparts or Chinese as China is touted to be one of the fastest growing trade partners. Multilingualism encourages openness to a new language and provides access to unfamiliar society and its value. It enables us to better appreciate the history and culture behind it. It is common to find many other countries introducing multilingualism. Our bilingual system has survived for many years and it would be appallingly to see all the efforts reduced to waste, if we reached a point where people disregard the importance of Chinese.

In my opinion, I feel that the learning of Chinese plays an important role in shaping our culture and learning about our roots. As the Chinese saying goes, “ying shui si yuan’ , we must always remember the source of our traditions, culture and heritage. My grandparents are from China Swatow and they have inculcated many Chinese values in me. Occasionally, they will introduce Chinese literature and great Chinese poets and their work to me. To me, not only do I gain learning the Chinese culture and values, I also spent fulfilling bonding time with them. I do not profess to be very good in Chinese. Both my parents are English educated and we communicated mainly in English. I also spent immense amount of time in my Chinese Language and although it was really difficult during my PSLE, I persevered. I was elated to get into HCI, a SAP school with strong emphasis in Chinese. Although Chinese is still my weakest subject in school, I never harbor the thought to drop the subject. Infact it is a very beautiful subject and through it I can feel the culture and value, something that I will not be able to appreciate if I had conveniently given up the subject.

Thus I feel that the MOE must find a balance whereby a fair weighting is given to mother tongue and at the same time, do not erode the importance of the lauguage. The Chinese lauguage should and must continue to be relevant in Singapore.

Touching Hearts, Forging Bonds --> :)

Hello blog! Today, I would like to express my learning journey in Service Learning with a project entitled "Touching Hearts, Forging Bonds"

For Project's Day this year, I decided to try for Service Learning with 3 other close friends, Lionell, Kim Yao and Mickey from 2P2. We also roped in volunteers from HCI to help run this project.

Touching Hearts, Forging Bonds is a tuition project aimed at tutoring Primary 5’s and 6’s to help them with their Primary School Leaving Examinations. We are working with the organisation Assyakirin Mosque. In addition to teaching them Math, Science and English Oral, we will also bond and build up their confidence.

Service Learning might seem like an easy thing to do and thus appeals to many project’s day groups. However, this is not the case for us. Let me share my experience.

In Term 1, our project group was formed. We had a timeline and everything was nicely planned and organised, due to the many hours of hardwork and brainstorming. We planned and produced worksheets and lesson materials for the upcoming tuition sessions. Although it was rather tedious as we had to juggle term tests and project work we gave our best efforts. We spent 4-5 hours each week on this project and are optimistic it will work.

We managed to convince the Prelim judges and got ourselves into the Semi-Finals. When we finally started the tuition sessions, we encountered other teething problems.
During our first session with the students, we had originally planned to conduct a bonding session with simple lessons, but only to be told that it was expected of us to give no work that day. The session was supposed to be 4 hours long, but only lasted 1.5 hours on that day. I also had to make an impromptu speech within 10 minutes to the parents of the students. To add to the complications, some students did not take Science for their PSLE. We would thereby have to split them into 2 groups and teach them differently, so our lesson plans that we made had to be changed.

After much efforts and cooperation from the team member and volunteers, we put together a enriching session. We also completed the goal setting worksheet so as to help them set goals and ultimately work towards them. We worked even harder to put together a lesson plan for the second session. Before each session I will have a briefing session with my team members and the volunteers. We want to make each session count and the students will benefit.

Now as I write this blog post may I remind myself that tomorrow is my 3rd session with them. My team members and I have been meeting and working tirelessly for this session. Despite having 4 class tests last week, we mugged through and have everything organised. I feel a sense of fulfilment being able to contribute to society. I know there will be many more hours of hard work but my team and I are ready to take on the challenges.