Before I begin, I would like to make this disclaimer: poetry
is not my forte.
I really enjoyed the
way Brian Turners poem , “What Every Soldier Should Know” is broken up into
complete thoughts. It isn’t just some run-on sentence with a bunch of different
interpretive meanings. It’s simple, and I can appreciate that.
The first line reads, “If you hear gunfire on a Thursday afternoon, it
could be for a wedding, or it could be for you”. Initially I wondered why
Turner chose to use a specific day, Thursday to be exact. Thursday is the day
before Friday, and people nationwide usually celebrate Friday’s because it
represents the end of the week and a chance to rest. Using Thursday
specifically presents added depth to what he is saying. Not only is he making a
drastic contrast between marriage and death but he is also claiming that if it
is indeed “for you” then you will be dead before you have the opportunity to
rest, before you make it to the weekend. Also, the poem is definitely effective
in expression the sense of hatred that the Iraqi people have for American
soldiers. He claims that there is graffiti reading, “I will kell you American”
and that men wore explosive vests and would sacrifice their lives for the
murder of Americans. He also writes that the locals are being paid to kill you
and that even though they may act nice with you, they would actually prefer you
dead. I find it interesting that Iraqi people are drawn to be villainous in
Brian Turner’s poem, yet Riverbend made it clear that the Iraqi people do not
actually hate the Americans, they would just prefer them not to invade their
space. The poem fails to describe the tragedies Americans cause and instead
focus on the maliciousness of the Iraqi people. Typical for America…
Although I agree with you that Brian Turner's poem "What Every Soldier Should Know," is indeed more clear than some of his others, I think that it can still be interpreted in many different ways. You may not think you believe this poem has several meanings but you do. In questioning and pondering what meaning should be derived from Turner’s choice of Thursday in the line about the wedding, you are admitting that his decision to use Thursday instead of any other day could have been for a variety of reasons, several of which you go through. Although the poem is relatively clear in its delivery, to call it simple may be a little strong.
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