From A Distance
12/18/2003 06:42 p.m.
About a month ago, I discovered the poems and journal entries of Dana Brossard on here. It was like an epiphany but not a surprise for me. I had imagined and dreaded what it is like for young people (or any people)serving in action. But I was struck with the fact that I was reading the words from the living, breathing, struggling soldier-poet, from the actual on-going battlefield, literally. And I thought, here is a young man sharing with us a hugely significant and immediate situation, full of danger and grief, and his reactions, the changes he's endured, the costs, premature disruption away from his bride, all of it moving me to tears. His obvious sensitivity to innocent war victims and the haunting memories he has of instantly vanished children, coupled with his own dread, and hopes, the stark solitude of the camp, in his contributions here have often plagued my sleep after reading. But don't we need to be plagued with the information?

Now he faces Christmas in Iraq, remote from all he holds dear. But he continues to reach out to us on here. Such a brave contributor as a poet of witness, (even more, of first-hand experience) and to his country and its cause, (I won’t go into the pros and cons or politics here, or our individual philosphies to any degree, because it's not the relevance)that I admire him utterly and hold my breath when I read his work about the war.

This, folks, is not fake, this is not reality tv, this is not propaganda, this is the kind of literature soldier poets have written to send us from all the wars, through time, and people like Pasternak (not a soldier, in this case, but witness and documentor via stories and poems) their feelings, their losses, fears, transitions, hopes, and faith.

For many years I've received This England Magazine, from my aunt in the U.K. It always includes a section called Salute to the Soldier Poet, with poems from the Word War II British soldier poets mostly and their photos and stories.

Last night, after reading Dana’s latest, and praying the dilemma ends soon in a safe manner for him and for all the men and women, and children, over there, I caught some of the tv special about the movie "Cold Mountain". It was dealing with the inspiration for the film, the role of separation from the home life, and the calling to fight, that the civil war summoned in its young men, in the U.S. I want to see the movie, so I didn’t take in the whole documentary as it was telling to much of the plot, but the cinematography, the acting, and writing, are all a tribute to the stories from real-life diaries of women who’d loved and often lost, young men to that war. And the story of the soldiers’ experiences, on the battlefront. Those whose accounts were left to tell the story, if they weren’t.

I find right now the most moving material for me on this entire site lately is from Dana. It's the frank reality we can only feign to imagine, and he provides us actual history, the tragedies and the sense of purpose, the discipline to fulfill no matter how horrific, and despite what our predispositions may be, we can see, most of all, the sacrifice and courage that are incredible. The enduring of the point of no return.I think his messages so vital.

Why? Because while the famous and/or notorious names in the world issues get more hype and attention, it is the individuals like Dana, carrying out the most dangerous, and unsavory roles, coming to terms with the true story, day-to-day, who are the voice of history.

Just a thought. With prayers, every day, for Dana, and the others he represents in microcosm. Those on the front-lines and in the villages, anywhere in the heat of battle or where it could suddenly break out. When I look at his photo, and he is smiling and well, I as a mom and a citizen of the world, pray for his well-being. And that he returns soon, with his soul as intact as possible, to his waiting wife and family.

I am currently Awestruck
I am listening to in my mind, Bette Midler's From a Distance