November 2015
E d i t o r ' s N o t e
November 11th is Veterans Day. For this issue of Verse-Virtual I gave poets the option of submitting poems that have to do with the veteran experience. The response was terrific. I received many fine examples of veteran-related poetry.
Although they all appear in the pages to follow, I chose one to highlight here: "Soldiering On" by Bill Glose, a veteran of the Iraq War.
Before presenting the poem I offer some background information in the form of an email exchange between Bill and me. It starts off with my response to Bill's submission of three outstanding poems. Here is that email exchange followed by the poem. Both speak for themselves.
From: ff@verse-virtual.org
To: empirepub@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: November V-V
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2015 09:27:41 -0400
Dear Bill,
These [poems] are terrific and of course I will publish them. Will send draft
soon.
Would you tell me more about your experience... give me a little
history? How did this whole thing come about? What drew you to it?
What was it like? What about poetry — whence words — from war? Did
you write poetry before? What are your goals? How about links to your
website etc.
Once someone told me that veterans HATE to be thanked. What's that
about?
Are your books available on Amazon?
Thanks for these poems and for your service to our country.
Sincerely,
Firestone
From: Bill Glose <empirepub@hotmail.com>
To: Firestone Feinberg <ff@verse-virtual.org>
Subject: RE: November V-V
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015 11:19 AM
Dear Firestone,
Thank you for the kind words. As for "how this whole thing came about," I grew up a military brat and had been around it all my life. Joining up to serve just seemed natural to me. My father was a jet pilot in the Air Force and I spent my formative years on bases in Japan, Okinawa, and England. I also wanted to fly, but due to my poor eyesight, that door wasn't open to me. So I figured, if I couldn't fly planes, I would jump out of them instead. I was commissioned into the 82nd Airborne in 1989 and spent just about a year going through the various schools (Officer Basic, Airborne, Ranger) and arrived at my unit just as Hussein invaded Kuwait. I was part of those first troops sent over to "draw a line in the sand." Saddam had armored units and we only had what we could carry on our backs. If he had not blinked, we would have been no more than speed bumps. But, as everyone knows, he did blink, and after 7 months of buildup, I was part of the ground invasion into Iraq.
For 10 years after the war, I didn't share my experiences with anyone. Like most men, I kept those things that bothered me bottled up inside. But then I started writing about it. The first poems and essays seared like glowing skewers, but as I poured more of my heart onto the page a strange thing happened...I felt the catharsis of release. And so I kept going until I had a drawer full of them. I started reading my war poems at open mics, and after each reading I'd tear down what didn't work and building it back up again. After they found homes in over two-dozen magazines and journals, I felt the collection was ready for publication. Unfortunately, publishers didn't agree, and with each rejection I received over the next year and a half, I would take out my scalpel and operate on the collection. Eventually, my manuscript, Half a Man, found acceptance with a seventeenth publisher (FutureCycle Press) and I am thrilled with the fantastic job they did.
As for your wondering why veterans hate to be thanked, it's because those well-intentioned expressions of gratitude force them to think about something they'd rather forget. Or, worse yet, talk about. That was the same frame of mind I had, and boy was it wrong. I can't think of any problem that ever improved by ignoring it.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough and strayed pretty far afield along the way. I look forward to your next issue. Keep up the good work.
All my best,
Bill
To: empirepub@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: November V-V
Date: Sat, 17 Oct 2015 09:27:41 -0400
Dear Bill,
These [poems] are terrific and of course I will publish them. Will send draft
soon.
Would you tell me more about your experience... give me a little
history? How did this whole thing come about? What drew you to it?
What was it like? What about poetry — whence words — from war? Did
you write poetry before? What are your goals? How about links to your
website etc.
Once someone told me that veterans HATE to be thanked. What's that
about?
Are your books available on Amazon?
Thanks for these poems and for your service to our country.
Sincerely,
Firestone
From: Bill Glose <empirepub@hotmail.com>
To: Firestone Feinberg <ff@verse-virtual.org>
Subject: RE: November V-V
Date: Saturday, October 17, 2015 11:19 AM
Dear Firestone,
Thank you for the kind words. As for "how this whole thing came about," I grew up a military brat and had been around it all my life. Joining up to serve just seemed natural to me. My father was a jet pilot in the Air Force and I spent my formative years on bases in Japan, Okinawa, and England. I also wanted to fly, but due to my poor eyesight, that door wasn't open to me. So I figured, if I couldn't fly planes, I would jump out of them instead. I was commissioned into the 82nd Airborne in 1989 and spent just about a year going through the various schools (Officer Basic, Airborne, Ranger) and arrived at my unit just as Hussein invaded Kuwait. I was part of those first troops sent over to "draw a line in the sand." Saddam had armored units and we only had what we could carry on our backs. If he had not blinked, we would have been no more than speed bumps. But, as everyone knows, he did blink, and after 7 months of buildup, I was part of the ground invasion into Iraq.
For 10 years after the war, I didn't share my experiences with anyone. Like most men, I kept those things that bothered me bottled up inside. But then I started writing about it. The first poems and essays seared like glowing skewers, but as I poured more of my heart onto the page a strange thing happened...I felt the catharsis of release. And so I kept going until I had a drawer full of them. I started reading my war poems at open mics, and after each reading I'd tear down what didn't work and building it back up again. After they found homes in over two-dozen magazines and journals, I felt the collection was ready for publication. Unfortunately, publishers didn't agree, and with each rejection I received over the next year and a half, I would take out my scalpel and operate on the collection. Eventually, my manuscript, Half a Man, found acceptance with a seventeenth publisher (FutureCycle Press) and I am thrilled with the fantastic job they did.
As for your wondering why veterans hate to be thanked, it's because those well-intentioned expressions of gratitude force them to think about something they'd rather forget. Or, worse yet, talk about. That was the same frame of mind I had, and boy was it wrong. I can't think of any problem that ever improved by ignoring it.
Anyway, I've rambled long enough and strayed pretty far afield along the way. I look forward to your next issue. Keep up the good work.
All my best,
Bill
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Soldiering On When last I slid my rifle in its rack, unlaced my boots and stowed my uniform with all the freight of war that I had borne, fury’s claw marks laced upon my back, I stumbled from the shade of all I knew into a world I long strove to protect without belief one day I could expect the ice within my bones to melt anew. But in light of day, rage can’t survive and hope warms all who in her sunlight trust that life has more to give than blood and lust. Disarmed, I gulped blue air and felt alive. Headlong at life I charged and wasn’t scared to drop my shield and let my heart be bared. |
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©2015 Bill Glose
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Respectfully submitted,
Firestone Feinberg
Firestone Feinberg