war photographer

• "spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"

  metaphor and paradox - the photographer attempts to control his traumatic experiences, which are reduced to something ordered
• "he has a job to do."

  caesura - photographer attempts to distance himself from the abhorrent memories of conflict
• "did not tremble then / though seem to now"

  enjambment - loss of control of trauma - Duffy exposes the harmful nature of conflict upon not only those who serve and are killed, but also those left traumatised indirectly.
• "All flesh is grass"


  biblical reference - cyclical nature of death and conflict
• "priest" "intone" "mass"


  biblical imagery - ritualistic controlling of trauma
• "The reader's eyeballs prick / with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers"


  ironic rhyming couplet indicates how Duffy unleashes a seething critique upon the public's short-lived empathy for those suffering in conflicts overseas.
• "blood stained into foreign dust"


  metaphor of ‘stained’ suggests that the memories and feelings associated with war will be forever imprinted onto this foreign land and onto his mind as he is permanently psychologically scarred by his experiences of conflict.
• cyclical structure - starts with coming back from job, ends with returning to job - conveys the inescapability of war