The two poems that I reacted two the most or felt the most connection to was "Song of Napalm" by Bruce Weigl and "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" by Kevin C. Powers. I guess the reason that I felt such a connection to these two poems is that they both have to deal with war, which happens to be what my trade is. I joined the Army in 2008 and I'm a gunner for the 856 Military Police Company stationed up in Flagstaff. Reading these poems reminds me of some of the stuff I have been through in our training and what not. The discussions I've had with people in and out of the military and the awkward introductions I have made when explaining to my girl friends family what it is that I do in the Army.



When reading Powers poem and realizing that the first line is a of him writing home to his girl, I can connect with him on a personal level because of the letters that I have written home to family and friends. I understand what it's like to be writing a letter and wondering if anything that is happening around me will some how be passed in through the letter, like smells or dust or even a drop of blood. I can even now still remember where I wrote some of my letters and the weird feeling it is to be a killer yet a lover at the same time. To be writing home about your feelings when you know the next day you wouldn't want any of your loved ones to know what it is your training for, or what it is that you will be doing the next day.



In Weigl's poem I see how a young man is trying to forget where he is by day dreaming, by wishing away everything he has seen. This experience is common amongst us soldiers. I don't know how many times I have sat around day dreaming wishing I was some where other than where I was. But you are always brought back by the chirp of automatic gunfire or the heat or someone yelling. Trying to go back to the day dream is like trying to catch the bird you just released. It's senseless to try once the day dream is over but you try again anyway, because it was just nice to get away for a while. But like he explains in the end of his poem by saying,
"And not your good love and not the rain-swept air
And no the jungle green
Pasture unfolding before us can deny it." (Weigl 41-45)
He's saying that no matter how you paint the picture reality is what it is. There is no way to get away from it, no escape.












Works Cited
1. "Song of Napalm" Bruce Weigl, Archaeology of the Circle: New and Selected Poems. Grove/Atlantic, Inc. 1999 https://3bb.yc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_22410_1%26url%3D
2. "Letter Composed During a Lull in the Fighting" Kevin C. Powers, Poetry 2009. https://3bb.yc.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_22410_1%26url%3D

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