Artillery Shelling
The Picatinny Arsenal is an American military research and manufacturing facility located on 6,400 acres of land in Morris County, New Jersey, United States.
—Public Relations Manager for Picatinny Arsenal, U.S. Military
“(the) Picatinny portfolio comprises nearly 90 percent of the Army’s lethality and all conventional ammunition for joint warfighters.” What the hell does this even mean? The website goes on to explain the type of products tested: IED defeat technologies; small, medium, and large caliber conventional ammunition; precision-guided munitions; mortars; fire control systems; small-arms weapon systems; howitzers; gunner protection armor; warheads; fuzes; insensitive munitions. This list of products adds to my confusion. I thought they only tested small ammunition. My home is five miles from Picatinny. My town sends out this email almost daily: Please note that Picatinny Arsenal will be blast testing today from 9 am-3:30 pm. Also note that testing is conducted in 8–10-minute intervals. The testing comes grouped as three blasts at a time: the first shell fires… Boom… then a short pause… the second shell fires… Boom… then a short pause… the third shell fires… Boom… then an 8–10-minute interval until the next testing round begins. Testing—only testing—I remind myself—as the floor vibrates—and the windows rattle.
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Laura Daniels (she/her) is a multi-genre writer. Founder of the Facebook blog The Fringe 999 and editor of The Fringe 999 Poetry Forum. Curated recently in New Jersey Bards Anthology, Silver Birch Press, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Smarty Pants Magazine for Kids, and featured poet for Poetry for Mental Health. Her poetry collection Gentle Grasp (Kelsay Books) is forthcoming in 2025. Her poems grow from a love of wandering and New Jersey, where she lives with her partner in Mt Arlington and works in the community garden. She can be reached at https://lauradanielswriter.wordpress.com and @thefringe999.
What a fascinating piece of language. Very different than what ONE ART usually publishes.
Michale, Thanks for commenting. It’s also very different from what I usually write, but it bubbled up and needed its space. Namaste.
i just reposted your poem. I can see how living near this Arsenal would give you the impetus to generate a poem. I like how it moves, even as a block of copy…and then ending …I could feel it.
Thank you for your kind words and reposting; it is much appreciated.
thank you for your kind words and for reposting – much appreciated.