Aim for the A*: The Bright Lights of Sarajevo

This powerful poem has its setting in the chilling siege of Sarajevo during the Bosnian War of the mid-1990s.

The poet uses one night in the city to present an unvarnished, graphic recount of the horrors of war that lay claim to the lives of the city’s innocent civilians. However, interspersed through the tragedy is an undercurrent of hope, that takes shape in the form of a blossoming romance between two youths.
 
The title of the poem evokes a positive response in the reader, and the use of ‘bright’ could suggest that despite the hardships the city is facing, there is still hope for its inhabitants in the form of a similarly ‘bright’ future.
 
The poem is written in three stanzas of unequal length, and follows a strict rhyme scheme, where every couplet shares a rhyme. The poem also makes skillful use of enjambment, to mimic the narration of a story. 

The poet’s careful use of structure and rhyme is not accidental. He uses the first stanza to exclusively talk about the grim, bitter realities of life in the war-torn city. The second stanza introduces the story of the budding romance, and the third stanza (which is the shortest) concludes on a very hopeful bend. Thus, the mood of the poem moves from negative to positive. 

Similarly, by using rhyme (which often brings a light-hearted spin to poetry) in a poem that deals with such grim subject matter, the poet is subtly reminding the reader that there is still joy and positivity to be found during times of despair. 

In the first stanza, the poet pays tribute to the trials the ordinary civilians were facing. He uses powerful language to show how the people were struggling to obtain their daily necessities. Fuel (canisters of gas) was wheeled home in prams, suggesting that they were as precious as children. Obtaining a few meagre grams of bread was akin to a death sentence (‘dodging snipers on the way’), and procuring water involved hard physical labour. ‘Grams of bread’ suggests that bread was treated like gold (as gold is often weighed in grams). The use of strong verbs like ‘queuing, struggling and dodging’ add emphasis to the situation being portrayed.

A switch to the second person ‘You’d think’ personally invests the reader in the story that is then to be recounted. The poet recounts the defiant resistance against oppression the youth of the city are showcasing.

In spite of the danger of living in a conflict zone, young men and women still wish to go out, socialise and enjoy the company of their peers. The poet does not criticise or condemn these actions; on the contrary, he seems to admire and be inspired by the resolve and courage of the resistance, as his careful use of language shows. 

The repeated use of ‘stroller’ to describe the walker’s gaits and the alliteration in ‘stroller’s stride’ suggest that the young people are carefree and unhurried. In the dark, all ethnic tensions are eliminated, as it is impossible to tell who is who. The poet stresses this by including three translations of bread in the native tongues of the Sarajevans; emphasising that in the dark and quiet, ambiguity reigns. 

The poet then details the unusual courtship rituals that would take place. A boy would pretend to collide with a girl as a ‘flirtatious ploy’, and based on her verbal response, would use a match or lighter to identify themselves and take things further. 

The act of the courtship, which has an elaborate choreography, coupled with the ominous use of language (‘dark shape’, ‘tender radar’) shows the poet is aware of the irony at play. The courtship ritual brings to mind a military operation, which painfully reflects the reality of its setting.

In the next stanza, the poet intersperses a personal eye-witness account of such a romance with the grim events of years past. The poet details the couple moving away from the site of a gruesome massacre- and his use of language could imply metaphorical hope for the future (as in the young leaving behind the tragedies of war). 

He uses detailed, graphic language to reinforce the tragedy that took place. By bringing attention to the innocent civilians who died while they were waiting for their food (‘blood-dunked crusts’, ‘broken dead’), the poet effectively calls out the callousness of the perpetrators of such war-crimes.

The mention of rain, and its eventual passing to reveal a star-lit sky, brings to mind tears and the eventual passing away of sorrow to give brighter eyes. The poet is once again drawing out parallels of hope with his use of words.

The poet’s serene description of Nature, reinforced with mention of the Pleaides (which are a cluster of stars visible to the naked eye), also draws sharp contrasts with the horrific violence perpetrated by man. The poet resumes an ominous stance by commenting that the weather conditions were ideal for a bombing to take place.

The poem ends on its shortest stanza, which paints a picture of tenderness and care. The repeated alliteration in the line of ‘coffee in a candle-lit café’ as well as the mention of ‘sharing’ and ‘holding hands’, brings to mind connotations of traditional romance. In doing so, the poet ends on a hopeful note of events turning over for the better, and civilian life resuming its normal due course.