Can't Give This War Away

Can't Give This War Away - 2007: An Idea As Good As Any

An excerpt from the printed edition of "Can't Give This War Away: Three Iraqi Summers of Change and Conflict."

“It’s man-hug time,” Captain Tim Peterman says, as we walk through the gate at the walled compound of Sheikh Dhiyah Bunassim. A dozen local Iraqi leaders will attend today's meeting.

Peterman's men have blocked off the street; a Humvee points toward an intersection not too far up the road. A crowd gathers at a distance. The Americans are here, so they’ve come to take a look.

Can't Give This War Away - Poetry and War: An Introduction

This is the full introduction to "Can't Give This War Away: Three Iraqi Summers of Change and Conflict." Preview (and purchase) the whole book here.

Can't Give This War Away: Three Iraqi Summers of Change and Conflict

Poetry and War: An Introduction:

 

"Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things." - Robert Frost

"Any idiot can face a crisis. It's this day-to-day living that wears you out." - Anton Chekov

New Hampshire poet Robert Frost’s quote compared his profession to baseball games - the dramatic moments need patience between long intervals. His observation - whether he’d appreciate it or not - applies to war and poetry equally as well.

The intervals are the tough things; the day-to-day living is what wears one out, as a soldier overseas and far from home. Not the moment; moments require action, and action needs training and good training took passion. Of course a soldier can face the moment. That’s why they’re there. But they can’t train for a war’s interval. They can fill it up - burn the latrine’s shit barrel, clean weapons, shave so they don’t get yelled at - but it’s all just time killing until what they’re really there to do finally comes along.