Shapcott presents war as destructive and malignant, spreading everywhere pervasively and insidiously.

One way in
which she does this is by displaying how war can be very impactful to the observer, even if you are on the other side
of the world. She says, “This is my front room where I’m lost in the action, live from a war on screen.” This highlights
how engrossed the narrator is in the televised nature of the Gulf War but suggests that the war is having a profound
but negative impact on her since she feels she is part of the war, despite the fact that she is in a completely different
geographical location. This is further emphasized through the employment of the adjective “lost,” which implies how
overwhelmed and distraught the narrator is, like one would be if they were on a real battlefield, suggesting how war
is pervasive. There is also a line-break in the quote as it continues on from the first to the second stanza which
connects the idea of sitting in her front room and the live conflict, emphasizing how she is living the experience in her
own room. Furthermore, Shapcott uses a range of military jargon which shows how war has corrupted her worldview
and identity. This is seen as she is “inside my skin, which will do for a Human Remains Pouch” which is a body bag.
The fact that she compared her “skin”, which is a symbol of identity and protection, to a body bag, suggest how she
feel emotionally detached to the world and how the negative images portrayed in the TV have a negative impact on
her. Furthermore, it can be argued that the televised conflict has given her a pessimistic experience as she no longer
feels alive and could also imply that she has no other way of making sense of the world other than using military
language.

Lament is an elegy – an expression of immense grief and sadness over the incalculable losses caused by conflict,
causing great distress and depression due to the immense destruction it causes. One way in which Lament potrays
destruction is by focusing on the impact of our actions on birds as she highlights how it can bring about the
extinction of species as she describes the cormorant “in its funeral silk.” Cormorants are usually white but have been
stained by the thick, pervasive black oil which coats it in black, destroying its livelihood. The use of the noun “silk”
connotes to smooth and royalty but is juxtaposed with the destructive nature of the oil to demonstrates its negative
impact on the birds, implying that the bird has dressed itself for its “funeral.” Furthermore, the poem also uses
apocalyptic imagery by describing the consequences of conflict; “burnt earth and the sun put out.” Here, the use of
apocalyptic imagery and the lexical field of fire, “sun”, “fire” gives a sense of immediate destruction of life such as the
“turtles,” who have survived for centuries before being wiped out by man-made disasters. Usually, the “sun” acts as a
giver of life to all species on earth and we depend on it for our survival. By highlighting how our actions can destroy
nature, this further conveys the numerous but deathly threats facing our livelihood and how it brings sadness to
those affected by it. Another way in which the poem portrays uncertainty and chaos is by the structure, where it
employs the free verse pattern without a set rhymical pattern and meter, which reflects the chaos, severity and
harmful nature of war. Furthermore, the use of the tercets adds to the idea that the conflict has impacted on
multiple things and propels the reader to feel sympathy as it is overloaded with devastation, suggesting that war
leaves nothing unmarked.