War Poetry - Morgan

One of the things that is harder to figure out than I thought it would be is to figure out what is a war poem and what is not. War poems are not as straight forward about soldiers on the front lines of battle as I imagined they would be. But after reading more war poetry I have started to understand true war poetry. It is not always about a straightforward description of a battle or even a reflection of a battle by a soldier but it can be about anything that was written in a time of war even if the war is not mentioned.

The poem 2000 lbs. is definitely a war poem. It is a war poem because of the emotion and the descriptions of the people in the poem during the “event” described in this poem. The beginning of the poem is all about the emotions and feelings that different people from different situations are feeling during a rough time in their lives. One person is remembering “summer 1974,” he is remembering the girl he loves and regretting how fast time goes past and previous decisions he has made. The next couple of people in this poem start to describe an explosion as the even that has taken place.

The skeptical reader after the first couple of sections of the poem wonders how these descriptions, memories, and feelings have anything to do with a war and war poetry. These feelings and stories have nothing to do with a war that we know of. As the poem progresses the reader gains a better understanding of what is going on but still wonders how all these compounded stories have anything to do with one another, how do they tie together. It is not until they are all put together, rather than looked at separately, and the time that the poem was written is taken to account that the war starts to stick out.

2000 lbs. is written during the Iraq war and is a description of a suicide bombing told from the perspectives of Iraqis, American soldiers, and the bomber himself. This poem was written during a time of war and the war and the event in particular was the inspiration of this poem. Knowing this even the skeptical reader then realizes that when they read about an old woman cradling her grandson, whispering, rocking him on her knees it is not only a description of a moment shared by a woman and her grandson but it plays a part in the bigger picture. The reader realizes that the war that the poem is talking about is directly affecting these people who are involved in this event. All of the people are, from the ones remembering the good times to the bomber himself. A war poem is anything written during a time of war, this poem more than some mentions the war tat is occurring but there is also still room for a little skepticism. After re-reading this poem and the discussions in class I am no longer a skeptical reader and believe that this is a war poem