From Pain to Poetry

From Pain to Poetry

Brian Turner penned the majority of his poems in Here, Bullet, his first of two books, after days on the battlefield, and with these poems of experience and witness to the pain and tragedy that war is, he provides readers with perspectives of his time spent in Iraq. Here, Bullet is in four sections, each expressing a different facet of the war in Iraq. Throughout the book, Turner uses strong war imagery, individuality, and perspective to provide a somber understanding of the conflict. 

Part one introduces the conflict, the Iraq war, the location, Iraq, and the people involved, the soldiers and Iraqi people. His poetry uses imagery to create an understanding of the context of the book. “Hwy 1”(2005) mentions locations such as: Najaf, Kirkuk, Mosul, Kanni al Saad, and the Euphrates. Upon seeing these names, the reader envisions the Middle East, specifically Iraq. In “The Al Harishma Weapons Market”(2005), Akbar “wraps an AK-47 in cloth” in the presence of his child. For him, weapons sales are the means by which he can put food on his table.  The Americans are portrayed in “The Baghdad Zoo”(2005) as “gunner[s]” hunting “Iraqi northern brown bear[s].” The Iraqi people and the American soldiers are contrasted, exposing different viewpoints that individuals in the war hold. “The Hurt Locker”(2005) describes the land as having “Nothing but hurt left here. / Nothing but bullets and pain.” Turner captured the perspective of both the conscientious soldier and innocent civilian with that poem, bringing both the Iraqi and American into the book. 

In part two, Turner explores how the Iraq war affected people. The personal depth in which Turner writes is even further demonstrated by the locations given at the tops of many poems. The reader sees these and realizes that Turner wrote from real experience at a real place. A man featured in “Kirkuk Oilfield, 1927”(2005) says “We live on the roof of Hell,” referring to living on the land ruled by the oil industry. Ahmed listens to this man tell him that “he’s seen the black river / wash through the flood of oil as if the drillers had struck a vein / deep in the skull of God.” The individuality of Turner’s poems makes the descriptive imagery that he uses more emotive. “Autopsy”(2005) exemplifies the individuality that Turner uses throughout this section of the book. The mortician Sergeant Garza, from Missouri, performs an autopsy on a man whose first kiss is described in detail. The description of such a private and personal event builds a connection between the reader and the subjects of the poem.

Turner also explores the remorse of the individual and the physical effects of war in part two. The persona in “For Vultures: a Dystopia”(2005) offers his “remorse of flesh” to the birds circling above. He hopes that his “gift of heat and steam” would suffice to exonerate for “every plume / of smoke, every fallen soldier, / [and] every woman’s / for the ones they love.” “Dreams from the Malaria Pills (Barefoot) and (Bosch)”(2005) are two poems in this section which demonstrate the physical effects of war to the reader. The persona in “Barefoot” coughs up “shrapnel, jagged and rough,” and in “Bosch” he feels as if he has experienced the open flames of a flamethrower. The visions of mutilated and burt flesh provide a too real image of what war is.

Turner then contrasts modern humanity with humanity of early first millennia in part three. The first poem in this section, “Alhazen of Barsa”(2005), juxtaposes the people of the early first millennium with modern humanity. The old world did not question “whether light travels in a straight line, / or what governs the laws of refraction,” but the new world does. Turner says that he would “rather ask about the light within us,” like the old world. A soldier in “Observation Post #798”(2005) looks through his binoculars during a time of relative calm and sees a woman smoking a cigarette and waving her hair in the air. Seeing this sparks his memory of being home with his own wife, some “7,600 miles / away.” This poem gives a taste of what a modern man might feel during war, which is similar to the emotional and introspective sides of ancient humanity.

Section number four reflects on the lessons that society has not learned.  “Mihrab”(2005) explores the imagery associated with the Garden of Eden. The story of the Garden of Eden was the first time that man had made a moral mistake. Turner has this at the beginning of this section to introduce the concept of missed lessons. Throughout history, humanity has continually commited violence against each other. Nation has hurt nation in the name of furthering peace or prosperity. Turner compares this past with what is occuring today. We still have not learned that what our nations are doing is just another portion of a greater cycle of violence. Turner’s poem “Gilgamesh, in Fossil Relief”(2005) says: “History is a cloud mirror made of dirt / and bone and ruin. And Love? Loss?” We should make note of history and learn from our forefathers’ mistakes. Then, at the end of the poem, Turner warns that “each age must learn,” further insisting that we should take note and learn. 

Turner’s mentioning of Biblical locations brings to mind the morality which seems to be absent from the Iraq war. The Iraq war is filled with tragedy and immorality. American soldiers had sexually abused and degraded Iraqi prisoners, dehumanizing them. The placement of Biblical references in a book about the violence of war questions the very nature of the war. How can a nation which embraces God, even on its currency, commit such abhorrent acts? Brian Turner got first hand experience with the atrocities of Iraq and the moral obligation to question what was happening when he spent a year serving in 2003.

Brian Turner gave individuals a voice and conveyed their perspective of the Iraq war with his poetry in Here, Bullet. His poems often use gruesome imagery, but by incorporating this with individuality he provides a real image of what war is and how it affects people. 

Bibliography

Turner, Brian. Here, Bullet. Farmington: Alice James Books, 2005. Print.

Perspectives through Poetry

Brian Turner organized Here, Bullet  into four separate sections. Each section emphasizes an aspect of war and humanity, which Turner’s poem “2000 lbs.” demonstrates. The book as a whole carries Brian Turner’s perspective and experience with the Iraq war. 

Part one introduces the conflict, the Iraq war, the location, Iraq, and the people involved, the soldiers and Iraqi people. His poetry provides the imagery for an understanding of the context of the book. “Hwy 1” mentions locations such as: Najaf, Kirkuk, Mosul, Kanni al Saad, and the Euphrates. Upon seeing these names, the reader envisions the Middle East, specifically Iraq. In “The Al Harishma Weapons Market,” Akbar “wraps an AK-47 in cloth” in the presence of his child. For him, weapons sales are the means by which he can put food on his table.  The Americans are portrayed in “The Baghdad Zoo” as “gunner[s]” hunting “Iraqi northern brown bear[s].” The Iraqi people and the American soldiers are contrasted, exposing different viewpoints that individuals in the war hold. “The Hurt Locker” describes the land as having “Nothing but hurt left here. / Nothing but bullets and pain.” Turner captured the perspective of both the conscientious soldier and innocent civilian with that poem. The namesake of the book, “Here, Bullet,” offers an individual’s “bone and gristle and flesh” to a bullet. 

In part two, Turner explores how the Iraq war affected people. The personal depth in which Turner writes is even further demonstrated by the locations given at the tops of many poems. The reader sees these and realizes that Turner wrote from real experience at a real place. A man featured in “Kirkuk Oilfield, 1927” says “We live on the roof of Hell,” referring to living on the land ruled by the oil industry. Ahmed listens to this man tell him that “he’s seen the black river / wash through the flood of oil as if the drillers had struck a vein / deep in the skull of God.” The individuality of Turner’s poems makes the descriptive imagery that he uses more emotive. “Autopsy” exemplifies the individuality that Turner uses throughout this section of the book. The mortician Sergeant Garza, from Missouri, performs an autopsy on a man whose first kiss is mentioned. 

Turner also explores the remorse of the individual and the physical effects of war in part two. The persona in “For Vultures: a Dystopia” offers his “remorse of flesh” to the birds circling above. He hopes that his “gift of heat and steam” would suffice to exonerate for “every plume / of smoke, every fallen soldier, / [and] every woman’s / for the ones they love.” “Dreams from the Malaria Pills (Barefoot) and (Bosch)” are two poems in this section which demonstrate the physical effects of war to the reader. The persona in “Barefoot” coughs up “shrapnel, jagged and rough,” and in “Bosch” he feels as if he has experienced the open flames of a flamethrower. 

Turner then contrasts humanity with ancient humanity in part three. The first poem in this section, “Alhazen of Barsa,” juxtaposes the ancient humanity of the early first millennium with modern humanity. The old world did not question “whether light travels in a straight line, / or what governs the laws of refraction,” but the new world does. Turner says that he would “rather ask about the light within us,” like the old world. A soldier in “Observation Post #798” looks through his binoculars during a time of relative calm and sees a woman smoking a cigarrette and waving her hair in the air. Seeing this sparks his memory of being home with his own wife, some “7,600 miles / away.”

Section four reflects on the lessons that society has not learned.  “Mihrab” explores the imagery associated with the Garden of Eden. The story of the Garden of Eden was the first time that man had made a moral mistake. Turner has this at the beginning of this section to introduce the concept of missed lessons. Turner’s poem “Gilgamesh, in Fossil Relief” says: “History is a cloud mirror made of dirt / and bone and ruin. And Love? Loss?” Then, at the end of the poem, Turner warns that “each age must learn.” Turner’s mentioning of Biblical locations brings to mind the morality which seems to be absent from Iraq.

The overall structure of the book flows from an identification of where the conflict is, and who the people are, to how it affects these people, as well as focusing on humanity, and ends with missed lessons. 

The poem “2000 Lbs.” is the longest in the book, and it focuses on one event, a car bombing. However, it shows the event through the perspective of seven people in eight stanzas, thus perfectly exemplifying the structure of the book as a whole. A close reading of the poem will give readers a better understanding of one even through the perspective of seven people.

The first stanza introduces the man who detonates the explosives. His “thumb [is] trembling over the button,” and his “adrenaline has pushed [the radio soundtrack] into silence, replacing it with a heartbeat.” The stanza is only six lines long, and the lines themselves are shorter than most throughout the rest of the poem. This fast piece of the poem may signify the subjects of discomfort and nervousness. 

The second stanza focuses on an individual named Sefwan, who “lights a Miami, [and] draws in the smoke” as he waits in his taxi. While waiting, he remembers “lifting / pitchforks of grain high in the air,” which reminds him of his love of many decades ago, Shatha. During these memories, shrapnel “traveling at the speed of sound to open him up / in blood and shock,” kills Sefwan. Sefwan died remembering his love. Such a violent act juxtaposed to a warm, homey and loving memory make the perspective of Sefwan much more emotive. 

Sergeant Ledouix of the National Guard is the focus of the third stanza. The reader joins his story right after the explosion. His eardrums have ruptured and shrapnel punctured his ribcage, hastily draining his blood. He knows that he will die within a few minutes, which he does. However, he “finds himself surrounded by a strange / beauty, the shine of light on the broken, / a woman’s hand touching his face.” This and the later use of wedding ring imagery allude to his late wife. Leodouix’s perspective is that of a man who has committed violence in his life, but is finally laid to peaceful rest at the hands of an explosion. One might guess that a man who led men to kill other men deserved a death of pain and gore, but Turner would have it otherwise; Turner has this man die in the memory of his wife, much like Sefwan dies in the second stanza. Turner shows that all people die equally. Some may see this as an injustice, but in reality it is an equalizer, as all men pass on. 

The fourth stanza is from the perspective of Rasheed, a man who was riding his bike near a shop when the blast occurred and his observation of manikins and the relative humanity to which he compared it. He survived uninjured, but he witnessed the “blast tearing into manikins,” who appeared as husband and wife who could never touch each other. This outsider viewpoint may stand for the bystanders who watch conflict but do not do anything about it. 

The fifth stanza focuses on another military man, Leutinant Jackson, who embodies the innocent man who does violent acts for some unknown reason. Jackson was blowing bubbles outside of a Humvee window when the bomb blew, causing him to lose both of his hands. He then “blacks out / from blood loss and shock, with no one there to bandage / the wounds that would carry him home.” Jackson may symbolize the gentle man who commits acts of violence for some deeper reason. 

The sixth stanza was the most emotive of the poem; it tells of old woman who “cradles her grandson, / whispering, rocking him on her knees.” The poem states that if the lady was asked forty years ago if she could see her self in this current position she would say: “To have your heart broken one last time / before dying, to kiss a child given sight / of a life he could never live? It’s impossible, / this isn’t the way we die.” This is the embodiment of the destruction of the innocent. The old lady was innocent, but the young child was beyond third party innocent, he held the innocent of one who does not know what evil is. 

The seventh stanza focuses back on the detonator. However, instead of focusing on his personal traits or how he is in the moment, it focuses on his overwhelming presence in the scene. It says that “he is everywhere”, his body exploded from the epicenter. The man is omniscient, touching all the people in the vicinity of the explosion. The detonator’s act touches more than those in the circle. It touches the lives of those connected to the people who were present in the explosion. This represents the vast effects that an act of violence can have on the world. 

The last stanza reflects on the scene as a whole. A telephone line is broken and swings back and forth “crackling” with active electricity. The people “wander confused amongst one another.” The people though, are learning each others’ names and consoling each other. This last stanza represents hope. In the face of violence, humanity can persist and endure until the violence is over and it can help rebuild. 

This poem functions much like the book as a whole. It uses perspective to create a better understanding of an event. In this poem’s case, a car bomb is extrapolated, but in the case of the book as a whole, the Iraq war is explored. 

"Curfew": Juxtaposition of Peace and War

Curfew Paraphrase

Bats take to the air once the sun sleeps,

and snakes fill the ponds behind 

crumbled buildings. the mosques’ doors

open for their initiates, inviting the night stars light 

as a mantra.

This day the police caught rays instead of men,

and children put clothes out to dry with

their mothers, while warm wind

embraced them. 

The air did not crack nor the the ground shake, calm. 

Sgt. Gutierrez didn’t hold a dying man with

pieces of cerebrum held tight in hand; today doves

flew from the Tigris with peace, not by fright. 

Brian Turner’s Here, Bullet was the child of his experience in Iraq as a platoon leader. Many times he would write a poem after a raid or by flashlight in his barracks after a day on the field. In “Curfew,” Turner does not turn away from gore. Instead, he embraces it with strong imagery that allows the reader to almost feel the brains of a shot friend. Turner does not sugar coat the atrocities of war, but he presents war as it is. He uses symbolism throughout as a subtle reminder of what humanity is capable of doing, on extremes of peace and violence. “Curfew,” juxtaposes peace and violence, and by doing so, it instills in the reader an understanding of war’s reality.

“Curfew” describes a scene in a war zone that is lit by the warm rays of sunlight and the calming tendrils of moonlight, not pyres of war. However, violence is not absent from the poem. In its three stanzas, “Curfew” juxtaposes a serene scene with the memory of death and violence to develop a spectrum of emotion. The first stanza speaks of nature and natural things in a peaceful tone: “bats fly,” “water snakes glide,” and “moonlight” is “prayer.” In the following stanza “policemen sunbathed on traffic islands” and “children helped their mothers / string clothes to the line” while “a slight breeze [was] filling them with heat.” This furthers the imagery of the ideal, homey scene, but this does not last. The final stanza speaks of what is not happening today. Sergeant Gutierrez is not holding an injured man who was grasping chunks from his friends’ brain. The introduction of this traumatic image shows how even on a peaceful day, the memory of war and violence persists.

Throughout Here, Bullet Turner presents violence and gore in their rawest forms, just as he does in “Curfew.” For example, his poem “Autopsy” details the initial incisions that the coroner makes when performing an autopsy on a downed soldier. Violence and gore are perhaps the best way to describe war, for they are its most common products. Many times war is portrayed as protecting those at the homeland or preventing further violence from happening, an necessary and honorable action, and those committing the acts are brought to the status of heroes. Turner, however, presents the facts as they are; people lose lives, and body parts of victims are often strewn on the streets. Too often have sergeants, captains, and colonels held their men dying in their arms, as in the last stanza of “Curfew.” 

What makes this poem beautiful and a poem of hope is the symbolism which it uses. “Curfew” establishes a scene of peace with descriptive details and imagery, but it goes even further with the symbolism used throughout. The police bathing in the sun stands for a time when such men are no longer needed in the world, for everyone will live at peace with each other. White birds often stand for doves, a commonly known symbol for peace, which it may stand for in this poem. Right after the image of Sergeant Gutierrez holding a dying man is mentioned, Turner says that “instead, white birds rose from the Tigris.” The Tigris pushes the idea of peace symbolism to the state of an ideal: the Garden of Eden. It is believed by many that the Garden of Eden existed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present day Iraq. By mentioning the Tigris along with the white birds Turner establishes his belief that men can someday reclaim that peaceful state.

Brian Turner’s “Curfew” holds no rhyme or consistent meter. The only formal element which I could find is the poem’s three stanza structure with a quintain at the beginning and the end with a quatrain stuck in the middle. The longer quintain forces the reader to stay on the subject portrayed slightly longer than stanzas of shorter length. Turner uses this to make the reader linger on the peace imagery for awhile, soaking it up. The middle quatrain further saturates the reader in peace, but also transitions the reader to the last quintain where the violent images fester. 

Turner uses imagery, symbolism, and stanza length in “Curfew” to give the reader an idealized image of peace juxtaposed with a very real image of the atrocities of war. Turner’s experience with was is well articulated through his poetry, and “Curfew” is a prime example of this.

Who is Brian Turner?

Brian Turner is first known as an American poet, but if one is familiar with his poetry, one also knows of his career as a soldier, for both are intertwined. Brian Turner spent seven years in the United States Army, and one can clearly see how this experience has affected his career as a poet. Before his time in the Army, Turner received his Bachelor of Arts, his Master of Arts, and his Master of Fine Arts(Contemporary Authors Online). 

Turner’s parents raised him in Fresno, California and then in Madera county, California. After high school, he attended Fresno Community College. Eventually, he transferred to Fresno State where he received his BA and MA. Soon after, he received his MFA from the University of Oregon(Contemporary Authors Online). 

One could call Turner well cultured to the world. He used his degrees to teach English in South Korea for over one year, after he received his MFA. THen he traveled to Russia, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. The combination of his liberal degrees and traveling gave him a different perspective on life compared to most people. He was able to transform the situations that he saw into poetry.

Turner spent time in the United States Army for seven years. He went to Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1999 until 2000. There he worked with the 10th Mountain Division. In November of 2003 he led an infantry team in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. His experiences with war are what shaped his poetry. In his National Public Radio interview, he said that he would often write his poetry right after he experienced the inspiration on the battle field. Many times he would write by the light of his cloaked flashlight in the barracks, careful not to wake the other men. He penned his poem “Eulogy” the same day that one of his fellow soldiers committed suicide(National Public Radio). 

While he was deployed, he kept his work a secret. His fellow soldiers knew he was working on a book, but as to what kind of book he was writing, they were in the dark. He did not want them to think that he was writing poetry about flowers and rainbows, for they may have thought less of him or lessened the amount of respect that they held for him(National Public Radio). 

Turner’s poetry works to paint a picture of what war truly is to the public. He captured the bloody reality of combat zones in many of his poems, and the picture created is anything but pleasant. Gore, violence, and death lace his poetry, but the fact that it is a stark reality makes it important to read. Society should be aware of the workings of the world, and Turner’s poetry provides a means of acquiring that image of truth. 

Turner’s book, “Here, Bullet,” is a reflection of his time spent in Iraq. It reflects on the variability of the zone to change from moment to moment, the death that surrounds wherever the armies were, and the emotions that the violence awakens in those seeing it. The book is named after a poem of the same title. In the poem “Here, Bullet,” a soldier, presumably Turner, tells a bullet that it might as well finish its job and he offers his body to the piece of metal. He does this knowing that such an act would land on his tongue and spill words to the world(National Public Radio). 

Turner’s experience with war forever shaped his poetry. It is filled with images of violent acts and death, but it is not immoral or awful poetry. It is merely the truth. 

Works Cited:

"Brian Turner." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.

"Iraq Soldier Describes War in Poetry." National Public Radio. N.p., 06 Jan 2006. web. 15 Nov 2011.

Bibliography:

Here, Bullet (2005)

Phantom Noise (2010)

Here, Bullet

Brian Turner details his journey through the Afghan and Iraq wars in his book Here, Bullet. Each page is filled with a vivid account of scene that Turner himself experienced. Having earned his BA, MA, and MFA, he went into the US Army with a different perspective than most. His experiences gave him the inspiration to write poems, many by flashlight at night after a day of combat. I will examine the role of this book, as well focus on a few selected poems.

Petrarchan Sonnet

A Walk

I walk with you in the wood at night and pray

We walked and walked and talked no end in sight

The longer we went the darker became the night

These words we said in stride could not be stray

I ask if I can hold your hand and stay

The moon is high above and shines so bright

These moments are the ones that I must write

I ask that we may always live today

We take the path that is in front of me

We go to places with our hands held warm

What heights this wondrous love can reach is high 

The rising sun now peaks through misty tree

Though cloudless day awaits my love’s a storm

I leave you on your porch, and walk on by

I chose to use a Petrarchan sonnet, which has 14 lines and a rhyme scheme of abbaabacdecde. I chose to use a Petrarchan because I felt that it would give me more of a challenge, and this would help me to understand sonnet form better. Following the rhyme form provided some fun. Finding words that rhymed and fit was challenging, but well worth the effort. The hardest part was sticking to Iambic Pentameter. I found that the form wasn't as limiting as I originally anticipated. In fact, it provided a backbone  from which I could build. Revising gave me a chance to actually get the iambic pentameter.

"In the East" by Georg Trakl

Georg Trakl served the Austrian army as dispensing chemist in 1914 during the time of the Russian’s raid on Galicia. At one point, he was taking care of more than ninety injured soldiers. These men had experienced one of the most bloody wars in recorded history, and many committed suicide in front of Trakl. The extremity of war was too much for Trakl to handle, and he attempted suicide, but luckily his comrades stopped him. He was then placed in a psychiatric ward where he later overdosed on opium. However, during his time at Galicia he wrote the poem “In the East” as a reflection of what he saw and felt.

Daniel Simko’s translation of “In the East” uses three stanzas, each containing four lines and two sentences with the exception being the third: it contains three sentences. The enjambment used throughout the poem works with the short, concise stanzas to create a tension that builds to the end, and then it never quite resolves. The addition of the third sentence in the last stanza, “Wild wolves have broken through the gates,” implies that danger is quickly coming and cannot be stopped. This abrupt ending places the author in the context of the danger, as if he cannot write anymore because the threat is upon him. The last sentence in the final stanza’s openness causes the reader to look over their shoulder, checking to make sure that they are safe.

Trakl continually uses personification throughout the poem. “The night beckons to dying soldiers” makes it seem as if the night is working as an agent of death, encouraging the dying to give up and die. Personification is further used in the third stanza: “A thorny wilderness surrounds the city” dictates that the wilderness is encircling the area which the poem is describing. The encroachment of briar plants instills a sense of being trapped in those who read the poem. The moon carries the last personification: “From bloody doorsteps the moon/ Hunts terrified women.” The silver, yet light glow, of the moon brings to life shadows, causing fear, but it can also provide enough light to prevent people from hiding. During this time of war, people, especially civilians, may have tried to hide to escape death, but because of the moon they could not escape death. The personification creates a sense of being totally alone. Everything appears to be falling to pieces, and it may feel like everyone, everything is against the subject.

A theme of vulnerability and hopelessness carries throughout the three stanzas. “Leafless stars” suggests the openness of the night sky-- not being blocked by trees and their leaves. The vastness of the universe pushes down upon those implied in the poem- the victims of war. Any individual would feel alone when met with the expansiveness of the universe, and I believe that is the sense that Trakl is attempting to portray to readers. Trakl uses a sense of vulnerability in the second stanza with the mention of “night beckons.” It further plays off the openness of the night sky. On a clear night, nothing stands between an individual and the vast openness of the night, and this individual feels as if the sky is absorbing him or her. Lastly, the “thorny wilderness” surrounding the city creates a sense of hopelessness. How can anyone hope to escape when surrounded by thorns? Lastly, the conciseness of the last sentence, “Wild wolves have broken through the gates”

leaves the reader with an unresolved tension which permeates every cell in the body. The wolves have entered the city and are ready to kill.

Trakl experienced the atrocities of war during his time at Galicia. During his time of providing healthcare to the soldiers he must have been dealing with intense emotional turmoil. This inner chaos manifested itself in the form of “In the East” and gave us the poem that we have today.

Paraphrase of “In the East”:

The soullessness rage of people,

makes music like that of a blizzard, 

the chaos is a solid blur, 

vulnerability surrounds.

With mutilated appendages, 

the vast, dark universe calls those nearest death. 

The dead cling to the Earth.

There is no where to go, 

all is surrounded by pain. 

The light of the moon reveals those hiding, 

for the animalistic men to find.

Peter Fallon Class Visit

Unlike the poetry reading, Peter Fallon came in as an answering, not a lecturer. He encouraged questions and discussion. He told us how his poetry is rooted in experiences, but how it is given shape through form. Peter didn't follow any set form all of the time; he often created his own. I noticed that his poems used strong alliteration and internal rhyme. He said that when he works on poems, he is most himself. I can see how this would be true. When writing poetry, one pulls from their inner self, their deepest feelings. Making those emotions surface helps the writer to see what their inner self truly looks like.

Peter also talked about his process of starting the Gallery Press. For him, it was the next logical step. It sounded like he fell into it, and it appears that it has worked out.

I found that Peter emitted an aura, almost, of steadfast peace, and through his poetry I think that I can see that this peace is rooted in his family and his home.

Peter Fallon Poetry Reading

Here was a man who put the soil of his home and his family ties into words. Peter Fallon continually spoke about the importance of family and how much his family meant to him. He also speaks through his poems a sense of the land on which he has lived. His home is a stereotypical home scene; people chatting about other people, going to the bar, fence posts and pastures. One poem that he read, "The Late Country" especially portrays this. This was his encore poem about a time that someone, who was definitely not him, went to a bar and had a run in with the police. The poem uses dialect between country folk sitting in a tavern to bring people home.
There were a few things that especially stuck with me that Peter Fallon said. He talked of a poem being a composition  It's something that someone composes. To me, this means that a poem is something that is formed both naturally and in a manner which requires work. This duality helps me to understand what poetry is. Poetry often exists in this dual nature, as is exemplified in the social space- between the personal and political. Fallon also said a quote from Robert Frost. It went something like "A poem is a momentary stay against confusion." I'm still grappling with this, but from what I know now, I think it means that poetry is an attempt to contemplate some current struggle.