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.
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
Thank you for this. Your poem is so well crafted and so very powerful.