Thursday, February 16, 2012

Shooting Rats

Shooting Rats at the Bibb County Dump  
by David Bottoms 

Loaded on beer and whiskey, we ride 
to the dump in carloads
to turn our headlights across the wasted field, 
freeze the startled eyes of rats against mounds of rubbish.

Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still 
like dead beer cans.
Shot in the gut or rump, they writhe and try to burrow 
into garbage, hide in old truck tires, 
rusty oil drums, cardboard boxes scattered across the mounds,
or else drag themselves on forelegs across our beams of light 
toward the darkness at the edge of the dump.

It's the light they believe kills. 
We drink and load again, let them crawl
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21 comments:

  1. SmellyWaterFebruary 16, 2012 at 8:54 AM

    "drag themselves on forelegs across our beams of light
    toward the darkness at the edge of the dump."

    this line makes me wonder if rats can relly drag them selves. and of how drunk they people were that they were missing them a little to only injure the rats. it seems so real decribing a little what the rats were feelihng. they were trying to get away from the light beams that they felt that were the main sorce of the noise and trouble. so the crawl in to the darkness away from the light.

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  2. TheMysteriousPlatanoFebruary 16, 2012 at 8:56 AM

    "We drink and load again, let them crawl"

    I like this line because it shows how heartless the narrator is. The rats in the story are a personification for people, in my opinion. As they shoot the rats the rats try to retreat and hide just like poeple would do in a war situation. Then after they have shot them they let them crawl and reload, having no mercy for the rats. I also like how the writer used the light in the poem. The rats were safe when they were in the darkness and they want to retreat into the darkness trying to get away from the light, or in their eyes the pain.

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  3. live.write.loveFebruary 16, 2012 at 8:58 AM

    "It's the light they believe kills."

    I like this line because it kind of shows the point of view of the rats. its not literally the light that kills them, but the fact that they are seen in the lights by the narrator kills them. i see the image of a spotlight on a helpless creature. The author also makes "shooting rats" in to one of those childhood scenes at a carnival shooting those two dimensional figures that slowly sway left and right.

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  4. TheeCrimsonRoseFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:01 AM

    "Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still
    like dead beer cans."

    The irony of the rats resembling beer cans while it was beer that drove these people to shoot rats like crazy. It shows the recklessness, heartlessness and the randomness found in the poem. In the beginning of the poem I had the imagery in my mind of empty beer cans and people drinking in the dark... then to find the rats shot in the head just like the cans make me feel as if these rats in this poem were just another pile of empty beers for amusement. There was joy in taking down the beers and there was joy in shooting rats until they lie dead...

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  5. sahara: rainbow3 PoetryFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    "We drink and load agian, let them crawl"

    i like this line because its nice and it shows how the narrator is. i get how he uses the rats as the people. and how shooting is when the people are drunk and also how people have no heart and dont take care of themselves when they are drunk.

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  6. PreachingUnicornsxFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:04 AM

    "It's the light they believe kills."

    This is my favorite line because it's saying how the rats think the light is what kills them when it's really the drunken people. Also how they believe the darkness is the only place they think they'll be safe. It's nice how they described the rats being tortured.

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  7. smilesxpoetryFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:06 AM

    "It's the light they believe kills.
    We drink and load again, let them crawl"

    I like this line because it shows my theory of what the poem might be about. These people are drunk, implied by the poem they might be alchoholics. The rats might personify the people who are around the alchoholics, getting hurt or 'shot' by their actions. But the people doing the shooting, or in my opinion the drinking,don't care, in the state they're in, the damage they are causing.

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  8. Le Frost ProdigeFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:06 AM

    "Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still like dead beer cans," I like how the sense or theme of alcohol still remains to show how alcohol affects people. I think the alcohol represents the craziness because getting drunk brings out the things that people wouldn't normally do when they are sober. These people like the killing and in the end it states that "It's the light they believe kills." I like this line also because the light represents exposure, because rats dont like to be seen. If the shooters are exposed they are dead too, because the victims can then recognize them.

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  9. KatinaFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:06 AM

    "...to turn our headlights across the wasted field,
    freeze the startled eyes of rats against mounds of rubbish."

    Much like many animals, when light is shined on them, they freeze and stare at it like it's something that they've never seen before. When I read this poem, I cant imagine shining a light on these rats, and their eyes staring back at me. The author gives a description that not only applies to animals, but to humans as well. As an example, say a young child lurking in the dark, and a light is turned on, catching them in the act, they dont run so much as just stand there staring.

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  10. YogeidyFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    "It's the light they believe kills." This poem is about how people do not let other live. Drunk people are killing innocent people. Like drunk drivers get into accident and ending lives.Drinking causes people to act stupid,yet those people that stay drinking do not realize it.

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  11. langston f hezzy babyFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    its like when you are exposed and you doing somthing wrong it kills it. in other words every thing done in the dark comes to light. and i apply this to life. like when they said head shots kills instantly. like if you have a problem thats been exposed kill it now.
    It's the light they believe kills

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  12. Jose Ticke QuistianFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    `this whole poem was kind of good. that's because the rats represent people and the way we're ignorant and how we torture ourselves and are afraid of simple things. the light rrepresents what people fear the most which i think is change and the truth. people these days are ignorant and dont want to be told the truth. the truth makes us feel guilty and makes us think which is something people fear and i personally dislike.

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  13. Cop ohFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    "Loaded on beer and whiskey, we ride
    to the dump in carloads"
    "It's the light they believe kills.
    We drink and load again, let them crawl"

    The fact that these people were drinking and then driving makes me think they were ignorant. Then they had went out to shoot rats. Harmless creatures that were in their own " home " These people think they are powerful just because the rats cannot do anything to them because they are weak. It shows how people bully people for no reason. Some people are just ignorant and like to hurt things that they know they have power over.

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  14. Hughes is a beast (Travis M.)February 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    "else drag themselves on forelegs across our beams of light"
    I like this line for the fact that it has great imagery. I can actually see the guy getting shot and the person crawling to save his life. I also like the metaphor of the light and rats. The author compared people to rats in the eyes of a drunk and the image of the light is showing exposure when something comes to the light. What kills a rat in real life? Rats believe the light kills them because it is the last thing see and it reveals who the rat truly is. In sum, the true meaning from my interpretation is people killing other peple for the fun of it, as well the reaction of the people.

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  15. juan gomezFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:07 AM

    `We drink and load again, let them crawl
    So throughout the poem, they talked about tourturing these rats, but it took me a while to actually knows what it reallys means. I got image maybe the rats can be consider to be people, and how we are treated in real life. It just a game for for some people.

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  16. DonMannyFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    "Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still like dead beer cans." This poem uses the imagery of rats as people showing the cruelty against people that are probably poor and homeless and less fortunate. This can be also showing reckless actions against these rats that are worthless to the shooters.

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  17. educated polloFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:08 AM

    Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still
    like dead beer cans.
    Ilike this line because its make since.i can actually visualize something dying and juss see there body all limp like "dead beer cans". The entire poem can be visualized but that line striked me the most.

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  18. Genesis PFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:09 AM

    "Loaded on beer and whiskey, we ride
    to the dump in carloads
    to turn our headlights across the wasted field"

    This was my favorite line because it gives me a visual of what they are doing. I see it as a bunch of drunk poeople gathering at one stop to contunie the party. I Think the author uses the rats to symbolize people. The imagae I get from this peom is a bunch of drunking people runnning away from the cops at shoot out or something."It's the light they believe kills.
    We drink and load again, let them crawl" this was another line that I liked because I think that by the light he means when they get caught and how they alwsys try to stay in the dark so noone sees what they are doing to themselves.

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  19. CynthiaFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:10 AM

    "Shot in the gut or rump, they writhe and try to burrow
    into garbage, hide in old truck tires,"

    I like this line because it gives me a image of the situation. I can imagine a rat hidding away from the shooting, in the garbage or old trunk tires. The author uses this to symbolize the weakness of the rats.

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  20. Hailee: Le poète incroyableFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:10 AM

    "Shot in the head, they jump only once, lie still like dead beer cans."
    This is in a sense to me "deeper then it seems." I like how there is the comparison. Not only to the cans, but it compairs the rats to the lifelessness of the people shooting them. In that beer can is their lives wasting away. The people shooting don't normally choose to do this, but due to their immense consumption of alchohol, they are doing it. Is it the light that kills, or is it the wasting away of their lives from consumtion of alchohol? As a whole, this shows how people shy away from the truth that shows in the light. The rats are people and they don't want their true feeling to be shown, so they do their dirty crime in the dark, instead of showing their true identity within the light.

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  21. HiFebruary 16, 2012 at 9:12 AM

    "It's the light they believe kills."

    The light... the last thing [they] see before they die and so that is what they believe kills. I wonder what Bottoms means when he talks about the rats. This poem shows how cruel supremacists can be when they excercise their power over beings they think are less important. They shoot them once and let them crawl; don't bother to put them out of their misery.

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