Both At The Border and Belfast Confetti use a wide range of vocabulary to implement an obvious conflict-themed story, but in a poem form, so noticing and comparing them both is easier than a lot of other poems that would use a range of metaphoric phrases and words. The poems are very literal, almost straight to the point, which I believe aims at making the reader want to really imagine it in his/her head.

At The Border first of all is a very soft poem, as in it is not full of sudden actions like Belfast Confetti portrays itself. The first stanza was very short, but it told us that it was the last time the protagonist would check-in wherever they were, meaning that they were leaving for somewhere, which we later find out to be their home country which had just been holding as war (sign of conflict). Later in the poem, a joke is also said, by a small girl, who’s related to the protagonist. This makes me confident that there is no current conflict going on, but rather they have been ‘affected’ by previous conflict. The line was ‘Look over here , she said to us, my right leg is in this country and the left on is in the other’.

Belfast Confetti is a poem of the complete opposite approach. This poem is one that is in the process of fighting, conflict and violence. They are more riots than war, but it seems to be very intense and shows how one innocent man really can’t escape how hard he tries, ‘Why can’t I escape~? Every move is punctuated. Crimea Street. Dead end again.’.  The poem is very blunt, literally describing what was going on around him and how badly the conflict was. He was also very confused in the last paragraph, which tells us that he was very confused.