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.