Where Death Angels Bloom
An antiwar poem
Raising the flag on Mount Suribachi, the iconic shot. Foundational for a nation's identity — the great American myth. But Iwo Jima was so long ago and film doesn't last forever. Transforming over time, like the Picture of Dorian Gray. Unveiling the curtain, a mountain of decaying corpses with Death Angels in their eyes reach for the flag which stands stubbornly erect, over everything.
Death Angels are formally known as amanita ocreata, a poisonous mushroom found in the United States.
It's such an iconic image I could easily picture it in my mind while reading. Then I watched as it transformed with your words
Brilliant. The entire poem is brilliant. In your evocation of Dorian Gray alone, I found five different angles. This poem is as astounding from a technical lens as it is from a thematic one.
Deeply impressed,
Eros