War may not be Poetry but...
06/11/2004 12:15 p.m.
Salute the Soldier Poets*(title of draft poem)

some of those same hands
that held rifles,
dropped bombs
from plane’s gunner posts,
or manoeuvered in the confines
of submarines,
belonged to those
who would suffer lifetime afflictions
emotional or physical or both
or in many cases, death
by the hands of the other side
but during their time of duty
religiously took up their pens
not only for their journals
and letters home
many of which
are invaluable documents in war archives now
and featured in the media on the "anniversaries"
of turning points like D-Day
but also for their poems

England, for one, is a nation
that still salutes
her soldier poets
in the magazine, This England.

Some of those same feet which found refuge
in farmer’s fields, churchyards,
civilian homes
before and after battle
some of those eyes that refreshed themselves
in the sight of familiar flowers
and re-found their dreams for peace
' in the faces of the blooms
that echoed home
the scents of homeland and the sense of
near-touch
of their beloveds
back in their Elysium
keeping them moving, forward
during the exiled experience of horror
also forged
their paths to notebooks
they would fill with observations and
outpourings
that would serve as the art of
the soldier poet

some of those who left home
in their youth, interrupted from their
early paths of adulthood
and loves
to fight for those at home
and those not even born
are just arriving back
from the latest hell
and bleed their wounds and merit
their epiphanies
or their tracking of
the mundane and the brutal
the terrors and the isolation
as we who have not gone
cannot -
in their words

but do we really read
and listen
to the story
of those who were more
than witness?

Yes, I say, as England does
Salute the Soldier Poets
and not just on anniversaries
decades from now,
but in the present
while the pain is freshest
and the recovery is on

- Maureen Glaude

*also the title of a regular feature in This England Magazine, of Great Britain, in which a photo and biography and examples of work of a different soldier poet appear each issue.

Author Note: First I want to apologize to the female members of the services, past and present, and affirm that when I use "he" and the male references, I include them too, and just for brevity do not say he and she, or her, instead of his. Perhaps I'll write all this again better with that inclusion, later. I know that the role of women in the forces has had a tendency to be overlooked too much. So far, though, I haven't personally come across soldier poetry by women, but it must be out there.

I'm proud of the fine Soldier Poet we have on here, (maybe there's more than one, I don't know) from whom I learned via his vivid and frank writing, so much of the first-hand experience at war. And his feelings from when he waited to go over, through to his service time and return. Putting aside the controversy of personal convictions which conflicted with the war, and going past that, I had to know from such a writer-participant, the feelings from the actual battleground, from one who had to enact the reality and not the political deciders, or we civilians who debated the pros and cons and rights or wrongs, of the issues amongst themselves, but the story we must know and have recorded in fine writing from the "done deal." The very real process of the deal. And was very moved and glad that I could. Even though of course the journals and poems were heartwrenching, and probably just the beginning of the documentation and effects that may even not be ready to be told for years, they were so honest. And the author did act as commentator, mourner and witness of the horrors. And I felt did so with a certain objectivity, not subjectivity,which was so important to me. He demonstrated faith, revealed fears and loneliness for his new wife, (bride, really, as they were newlyweds, -she's on here, I just learned, too)and homeland and people, but continuous courage and compassion. Naturally I was soon absorbed and concerned for his safety, survival, and the changes he must be enduring in his rapid exposure to the darknesses of mankind. His immediate from the scenes entries when he could make them were my most sought-out on here at the time. This was not me romanticizing soldierhood. I know the complexities and we hear of scandals and disgraces that have occurred. But clearly we here can be very proud of our soldier-poet from here, as representative of many, I'm sure, who kept their honor. When I was first acquainting with the work and plight of Dana E. Brossard, and soon found his photo, in his library, I thought of my son, almost the same age, and how unbearable this would be for me and for our family, my son's fiance, etc. I was so happy when my new poet friend returned home, safe, to the States, wife (Leandra K Njaa on here) and family, and this on-line family here, but with health and emotional adjustments, I'm sure, to start to make. Naturally, from the unnatural experience. Now I could enjoy his latest "regular-themed" poetry too now. Of course I'd read some of his earlier pre-war entries too, on other themes.

The Soldier Poet role is so important because it represents from a bird's eye-view the challenge and experience, and speaks for the "universal soldier", the universal plight of man against himself, in a way, and for himself as humanity. I don't know if this is clear, but it's a start. I use universal not in the sense of every country but for the general role. One of the most crucial roles of poetry/writing was served in this way I think.

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I am listening to trucks working down the street