“We haven’t enough words to speak of war.”
February 12th, 2007 by Matt
One of my new favorite poets is Brian Turner, an Iraq War vet whose book Here, Bullet has been toasted with more than a handful of awards and honors. Turner graduated from the MFA program in creative writing at the University of Oregon and then enlisted in the Army, where he spent the next seven years. Why? Well, in his own words: “If we could drink a bottle of vodka and talk about this until dawn, I might be able to answer that particular question.” Like most difficult questions, there’s no simple answer, and I believe his poetry is evidence of that. There aren’t simple ways to describe warfare, so the medium of poetry, with its textures and multiple levels of meaning, seems an ideal genre to use when writing about something equal parts horrifying and complex.
Here’s a sample, the title poem from this this brave collection, courtesy of Boing Boing:
*
Here, Bullet
If a body is what you want,
then here is bone and gristle and flesh.
Here is the clavicle-snapped wish,
the aorta’s opened valves, the leap
thought makes at the synaptic gap.
Here is the adrenaline rush you crave,
that inexorable flight, that insane puncture
into heat and blood. And I dare you to finish
what you’ve started. Because here, Bullet,
here is where I complete the word you bring
hissing through the air, here is where I moan
the barrel’s cold esophagus, triggering
my tongue’s explosives for the rifling I have
inside of me, each twist of the round
spun deeper, because here, Bullet,
here is where the world ends, every time.
*
If that doesn’t hit you to the core, I’m not sure what poetry will. Poems in the book vary in topic (wounded solidiers, suicide bombings, and, of course, eulogy, amongst several others) and point of view (he thoughtfully considers the perspective of Iraqis).
In his poem “Night in Blue,” Turner writes: “I have no words to speak of war.” When asked about the line, Turner had this to say:
I realize that the line “I have no words to speak of war” may appear coy on a literary surface. However, the line must be said. I felt I owed that to those who saw and experienced war in a much more devastating way. Some lost their homes. Some lost their family. Some lost limbs or came back to America with horror embedded within them. I was fortunate. Also, there are millions of stories needing to be witnessed and told. More needs to be said. Perhaps an alternate line might have read: We haven’t enough words to speak of war.
We don’t. But this book is a start, it’s a start.
To order the book, simply click on the book cover above. To read more samples of the poetry in the book, click here or here. To learn more about Mr. Turner, click here, here, or here (the latter includes video). To listen to Turner read his work, click here or here.
To learn more about Progressive Wednesday, just click here, here, or here.
Share This
Add this to your favorites