Shanell Johnson
Imitation of The Things They Carried. By Tim O’Brien
The Things They Buried
As serial killers they buried didn’t bury things but people.
Or maybe they did.
They buried the abuse of their childhood.
They buried the witnessing of their mothers death.
They buried the conviction of their Father’s voice.
They buried all these things with the innocent people they killed.
So that they wouldn’t have to carry it anymore.
Instead, they carried stolen police guns, butcher knives, and metal chains.
They carried the clothes on their back that they opted not to change despite the
bloody mess.
They carried the weekly newspaper about updates on their latest victory.
They carried food and water to keep up their energy.
When they saw a victim they thought of the violence their dad taught them.
When they heard the victim pleading they remembered the lack of remorse their
Dad had for them.
When they looked at their victim’s tears they remembered their Dad slapping them
away.
When the victim’s pleaded for their child’s life they thought of the pain that they
would prevent their children from.
They buried the memories over and over with each victim.
They buried their tears when the victims cried.
They buried their pain when the victims suffered.
They buried their insecurities with each killing.
They buried their guilt with their thoughts of community service.
They were able to do this time and time again because each killing they buried their
Dad.
In my imitation I wanted to implement the use of repetition of a phrase. I think that
the term is called anaphora. Tim O’Brien did this throughout his short story, The
Things They Carried, I thought that is was very poetic and prose at the same time.
His piece is a lot longer than my piece, but I wanted to use the repetition and make it
sound like prose poetry but come off as a short story at the same time. I was really
excited to do this because I really enjoyed the short story and I found it an honor to
have the opportunity to attempt to implement his writing style.