Turner and Martin

Beauty can be found in both Turner and Martin’s poetry, despite the subject being war. Similarly to Tim O’Brien, Turner and Martin are able to find moments of peace and magnificence in contrast to the ugly death and destruction caused by war.  In Observation Post #71, Turner describes birds, flowers and fruit in an almost pastoral setting, “eucalyptus trees shimmer” and “the sunflowers/ lift their faces toward dawn”. This personification demonstrates the liveliness of the place, which opposes the feeling of doom. In the final stanza there is a volta, “I have seen him in the shadows” darkness suddenly enters and the speaker is drawn to this unnamed man, presumably the enemy, by his rifle. In Martin’s The Burn Pit Detail at FOB Cobra, the reader can also observe beauty contrasted with the grim reality of war. At the volta, Martin describes a fight between dogs, “they seem to be/ in a dance, a moment/ before a kiss”. Although this appears to be a romantic moment, it is broken with the mention of shadows, much like Turner’s poem. It seems that beauty, real or imagined, is not sustainable in war.