Sameen
I really had to sit with this poem and it's a difficult one to sit with. I reckon that's the point.

First of all, the compression works in the poem's favor. Lines like: "first the shadow/quick and darkening the world" set an ominous and mythic tone while lines like: "the only batteries dreamed off/for toys and torches" carry devastating weight because it recalls childhood with such specificity.

Also, the shift from "sonic boom" to "punches and words" is so jarring but in the best way possible. Those last trhee lines of the first stanza land like a closed door. Same with the last three lines of the last stanza where "Learning early the cost of love" reframes the title amazingly.

The only critique I have about this poem is that I wish it would breathe a bit more. At least one concrete image, a sensory detail here or there, would ground the abstract violence and intensify the impact without softening it.

The emotional truth is there and it's raw and unflinching. This is a poem that will stay with the reader. I know it will stay with me.
2026-09-01