Thai-Burma Railroad Poem by Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Resides in Adelaide

Thai-Burma Railroad



After being asked for 500 men
for the day's work on the T-B R,
the finally agreed on 429
of the 838 remaining of the 1,000,
comprised 362 of the least sick,
and 67 from amongst
the 179 severely ill in hospital,
62 newly sick that morning
and 167 who were sick
and could only do light duties.

The 67 with cholera
could not be considered;
nor could the one left over
with malnutrition, pellagra,
beri-beri, 'Christ knows what else',
'whose buttocks were little more than wretched cables
out of which the anus protruded
like a turkshead of filthy rope.
A stinking, olive-colored slime
was oozing out and over his string shanks.'

He'd been been in line with the least sick
but fell and was kicked repeatedly by Major Nakamura,
on the methamphetamine he was addicted to,
what the Japs called shabu.

Sunday, May 1, 2016
Topic(s) of this poem: inhumanity,war
POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Quotes from Richard Flanagan's The Narrow Road To The Deep North. Vintage.2013. P,227
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Paul Warren 01 May 2016

Excellent imagery on a time I think the Japanese would like us to forget about

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Douglas Scotney

Douglas Scotney

Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Resides in Adelaide
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