Brian Turners poems in "Here, Bullet", are all intriguing tales of a very misunderstood war, but there is the common theme among most of death, Its not fear of death, but the yearning or calling for it, as if Turner has accepted it completely. The interesting part is it never begins or seems like its every about his own mortality, but more of those around him who have already past.
the real emotional sense of these deathly poems though is he connects these dead to himself and actually seems to wish he was in their position. In "Autopsy", he describes a mortician performing an autopsy on a recently deceased Staff Sergeant. She plays an dark, uplifting song about dark clouds braking, as she proceeds to carefully cut out his heart and ponder on the extensive emotion that once filled that organ. Turner states how like everything else, his heart will be given to the earth as ash then relays how lucky those are who make it back to her operating table. He is saying how many who di in war are never found, buried were they fell, or many never got the respect and burial their body deserved. Its also something deeper as in he wants peace and when he looks around death is actually the most peaceful option around. He again restates this fact in "Repartition Day", which takes place passing through the bodies of soldiers at a Red Cross. Turner writes " I want to lie down among them to be wrapped in sheets like flags of nations". He wants not only the peace that comes with death, but the overall honor of a solider who died. Death he suggests is never the end, but that the respect in ones own country will never be forgotten once your name is written down. and once that name is written he can have peace.
Friday, November 6, 2015
Turner vs. Komenyaka
For both Turner and Komenyaka they use personal accounts and writing styles to get across the suspense and impact of war. For these two writers I think the point gets made that even though these two wars happened in separate times, for separate reasons they are still similar. Even though the Iraq war might have TECHNICALLY been more organized, moral, advanced etc. I think the common themes stay the same. I think if we were to read all the war related poetry out there we could gather a common theme that war is destructive and it changes people. I think if we were given access to viewing the destruction of the Irag war the way the U.S. was during Vietnam our attitude and comprehension of war wouldn’t be so disconnected.
In the poem 16 Iraqi Policemen, the speaker tries to find normalcy in the chaos that surrounds him after the explosion. He describes how the blood of the men forms art - forms like mustaches and rings - because he is trying to relate what he is seeing for the first time to something he already knows. This is natural for most people, because to be shocked by something is so jarring that their brains attempt to take what they are seeing and turn it into something they have seen before.
He also talks about Allah, his god. As most people would, he doesn't ask the question of, "Why didn't Allah stop this?" or "If there is an Allah, why would this happen?" Instead, he assumes that Allah is there with him, experiencing this in the same way that he is, and also questioning how people can be so cruel and how something like this could happen. He thinks that Allah wants to help everyone that he sees, like he does, but he doesn't know who to choose or where to go first, because there is so much pain and suffering going on in one small area.
He also talks about Allah, his god. As most people would, he doesn't ask the question of, "Why didn't Allah stop this?" or "If there is an Allah, why would this happen?" Instead, he assumes that Allah is there with him, experiencing this in the same way that he is, and also questioning how people can be so cruel and how something like this could happen. He thinks that Allah wants to help everyone that he sees, like he does, but he doesn't know who to choose or where to go first, because there is so much pain and suffering going on in one small area.
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Martin, Turner, and Komenyaka
Hugh Martin, Brian Turner, and Yusef Komenyaka are veterans of war who became writers with a specialization on poetry. Martin and Turner participated in Iraq and have written multiple poems about their experience, and similarly, Yusef Komenyaka does the same regarding the Vietnam War, Thus, the three of them express to the best of their ability the feelings that involved being there and surviving while others on both sides were not as lucky. The three of them have contributed a lot to poetry and have received recognition and prices for their work as a result.
War has not changed much since Vietnam. Battles still take place within one side´s territory, and is still one sided. However, there has been huge technological advancements. The transportation of heavy weaponry such as tanks with the addition of more advanced fighting jets have provided the U.S. with a major technological advantage to eliminate any chance for failure. Although, due to this advantage, the locals responded with the often use of the element of surprise, as Turner occasionally mentions hidden bombs in cars and streets in his poems "There are bombs under the overpasses, in trashpiles, in bricks, in cars" (Turner; "What Every Soldier Should Know"). Furthermore, one major difference since the Vietnam War was the fact that the civil population was not required to enroll in the military as they did back in Vietnam. Only full time soldiers and military specialists were sent to Iraq this time.
War has not changed much since Vietnam. Battles still take place within one side´s territory, and is still one sided. However, there has been huge technological advancements. The transportation of heavy weaponry such as tanks with the addition of more advanced fighting jets have provided the U.S. with a major technological advantage to eliminate any chance for failure. Although, due to this advantage, the locals responded with the often use of the element of surprise, as Turner occasionally mentions hidden bombs in cars and streets in his poems "There are bombs under the overpasses, in trashpiles, in bricks, in cars" (Turner; "What Every Soldier Should Know"). Furthermore, one major difference since the Vietnam War was the fact that the civil population was not required to enroll in the military as they did back in Vietnam. Only full time soldiers and military specialists were sent to Iraq this time.
Monday, November 2, 2015
Oops!
While reading the blog post from riverbend, my eyes were opened to many things I honestly had no idea about. I was not really following the Iraq war. I had no family or friends deployed. I knew that we were fighting a war but at a certain point I wasn't so sure why we were fighting this war.
I felts somewhat weird when reading this blog because a lot of the myths about Iraq were true to me, to an extent. From the blog post on August 23, 2003, Riverbend goes on to say what people thought of people in Iraq. Things like people thinking that Iraqis lived in little beige tents and rode camels to school. In reality, Iraqis are much more modernized than we Americans think. Just little things like that were new to me.
From reading Riverbend's blog post, the Iraqi war very different than what the media in America portrayed it as. I think that most Americans thought that the Iraqi war was justified, and maybe at some point it was, but since reading the blog from Riverbend it made me think that I wish i would have learned more about the Iraqi war. Its not to late though!
From reading Riverbend's blog post, the Iraqi war very different than what the media in America portrayed it as. I think that most Americans thought that the Iraqi war was justified, and maybe at some point it was, but since reading the blog from Riverbend it made me think that I wish i would have learned more about the Iraqi war. Its not to late though!
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Take Back the Night- Extra Blog Post
This past Thursday I attended Take Back the Night for my third year in a row and each time it leaves me in tears. However, before I go into this years experience with the walk I would like to express my thoughts on the conversation I had with my boyfriend prior to going. Now, he had never heard of this event, so when I told him about it he had nothing of real substance to say about it. But I told him about it and even asked if he wanted to come and he bluntly said, "No." I proceeded to tell him that I wasn't forcing him to come but I was genuinely interested in why he did not want to come. He said he wasn't interested in the topic and it didn't have a life altering affect on me but I thought internally because this isn't a problem straight males are faced with day in and day out, outside of the prison system. But I attended the walk and then the open mic portion per usual, and per usual I cried violently and silently as I listened to each victim tell the various accounts of their attacks. For the past few years I have seen complete strangers and friends, along with a sorority sister tell their story and each time a piece of soul ached for me to tell my story since I have literally told no one, and have no clue as to why I'm choosing to do this now. Maybe it's time, since this is my last year in this safe space of Loyola. I don't really know where to begin....I only have two real memories, I think I've tried to block it out but I was in 3rd grade, eight to be exact. He was in 6th grade and one of my mother's coworkers kids with whom I would spend after school with in the Principal's conference room doing homework and eating snacks. His name is Stanton Boone. And to this day I hate him.
See my mom was a principal's secretary at the middle school, and so with us being a tight nit school district for those who had children and family members within it I would just ride the bus to my mom's school.
But the first memory I have of this violation was when I was napping under the conference table and he came in and started tickling me. Being a kid I thought nothing of it until he started raising my shirt up....I remember feeling a weird and uncomfortable sensation and then another one of our friends walking in and Stanton freezing then inviting him over to tickle me too. I can't recall his name but I distinctly remember the kid, I think his name was Ricardo asking me if I was ok....but I can't remember nodding yes or shaking my head no....The second memory is when we were in the conference room and Stanton started awkwardly kissing me....then its a flash to him exposing his penis and asking me to suck it....I distinctly remember saying saying "No" and ending up in the bathroom just staring at myself in the mirror. I don't really know how this "thing" stopped and I'm glad it hasn't really affected me in my ability to be vulnerable and to show love in my relationships.
The only time I really think about it is during this time of Take Back the Night. I can't put my finger on why I've never told anyone about it... I think it has to do with the shame of being a statistic or being tainted in someway...I'm not sure. But I am glad I got this off my chest.
OMG I FORGOT....Riverbend Blog
How does Riverbend
change your perspective on the
war? What surprises you about her
blog?
After reading Riverbend's blog I get more of a modern day human perspective of Baghdad, especially in regards as to what is going on with the war in this part of the world. I have a Pakistani friend who visits Pakistan as often as she can and she always sends me very picturesque views of Pakistan, a place I used to think of as plagued by bullet ridden clay buildings and dirt roads. However, she explained to me that's only the places that the media portrays to the public to make it seem as though Pakistan is a "Third World" in need of Western saving. That view was very clear through Riverbend's blogging. She mentions that Baghdad is often a place referred to in the media as a place that is undergoing reconstruction meaning that "re" where something was there before. That something Riverbend explains were massive skyscrapers, galleries, businesses, banks, a modern day metropolitan city. Yet, due to the war and American occupation the city has been reduced to a battle zone. More so, what stuck out to me about the war was America's role as far as contracting with the reconstruction and rebuilding that's going on. Riverben gives the example about the bridge that is being reconstructed by her cousin who is skilled in this art. She goes into detail about the construction and the pricing and even gives the $300,000 quote from her cousin versus the $50,000,000 quote from the American company Haliburton. I was struck- literally dumbstruck by the fact that the American company was given the contract. This is honestly exploitation and the fact that the CPA is approving such things is disgusting. As Riverbend mentioned Baghdad has plenty of skilled professionals who are not being utilized in an effort to decrease the unemployment rate in Baghdad.
In regards to the blog, I don't want to say that I was shocked with the political critiques and analysis that Riverbend gave because I feel that would take away from Riverbend as a woman and a person but I truly respected everything she had to say and I was amused when it came to reading about her thoughts on each of the rotating puppets. I loved the rawness that Riverbend spoke with and I would very much like to cross paths with such an aspiring woman.
After reading Riverbend's blog I get more of a modern day human perspective of Baghdad, especially in regards as to what is going on with the war in this part of the world. I have a Pakistani friend who visits Pakistan as often as she can and she always sends me very picturesque views of Pakistan, a place I used to think of as plagued by bullet ridden clay buildings and dirt roads. However, she explained to me that's only the places that the media portrays to the public to make it seem as though Pakistan is a "Third World" in need of Western saving. That view was very clear through Riverbend's blogging. She mentions that Baghdad is often a place referred to in the media as a place that is undergoing reconstruction meaning that "re" where something was there before. That something Riverbend explains were massive skyscrapers, galleries, businesses, banks, a modern day metropolitan city. Yet, due to the war and American occupation the city has been reduced to a battle zone. More so, what stuck out to me about the war was America's role as far as contracting with the reconstruction and rebuilding that's going on. Riverben gives the example about the bridge that is being reconstructed by her cousin who is skilled in this art. She goes into detail about the construction and the pricing and even gives the $300,000 quote from her cousin versus the $50,000,000 quote from the American company Haliburton. I was struck- literally dumbstruck by the fact that the American company was given the contract. This is honestly exploitation and the fact that the CPA is approving such things is disgusting. As Riverbend mentioned Baghdad has plenty of skilled professionals who are not being utilized in an effort to decrease the unemployment rate in Baghdad.
In regards to the blog, I don't want to say that I was shocked with the political critiques and analysis that Riverbend gave because I feel that would take away from Riverbend as a woman and a person but I truly respected everything she had to say and I was amused when it came to reading about her thoughts on each of the rotating puppets. I loved the rawness that Riverbend spoke with and I would very much like to cross paths with such an aspiring woman.
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