World Class Poetry Blog

War Poet Heads To Prison For Literary Crime
11 November 2007, the poet @ 8:38 pm

My step-daughter called me today to wish me a Happy Veterans Day. Unfortunately, I was asleep when she called so I didn’t get the chance to give her the proper honor. I didn’t even know it was Veterans Day. You see, I don’t keep track of such things.

Birthdays, my wife tells me. Anniversaries? Other than my own, not much of an interest. Holidays … if not for my wife’s insistence, I wouldn’t even notice. I am not a man of much pomp. Never have been.

But the rest of the world around me is all into this stuff, Veterans Day included. For that reason, it’s fitting to mention it. Here’s what Andrew Sullivan did for the veterans.

I like Andrew Sullivan. I also like Wilfred Owen. It was a fitting choice for a tribute.

In Great Britain they’re celebrating Veterans Day in another way. This makes me wonder what the official response would be if one of our poets wrote a poem about how to kill terrorists. Would we receive the poem in the same spirit or hail the poet as a great versifier for a good cause?

I read the terror poem. As far as poetry goes, it sucks. But I guess the enemy deserves to have their own literary heroes. Nevertheless, why would they position them within reach of the enemy’s warring grasp? She deserves prison. It is, after all, a war. And as long as there is war then the war poets are fair targets.

Submit a comment

Name

E-mail (not published)

Website URL

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail