Veterans and War Memorials
Nov. 19th, 2013 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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poetreeVeterans include military, police, and other service members. Sometimes that service leaves them with mental or physical disabilities. There are many ways to support veterans and thank them for their service. One thing people do is build memorials.
War memorials may represent a battle, a whole war, or some other event. Older ones, such as those of World War I, are usually grand and somber structures. More recent ones may have interactive aspects. The underlying theories of design and meaning in war memorials have evolved over time.
Poetry often plays into honoring veterans and war memorials because it lends itself well to expressing emotions and ideas that are difficult to put into plain speech. Veterans may read and write poetry as a way of processing their experiences. People may recite poetry for Veterans Day. Teachers plan lessons around war memorials. Poems are among mementos left at memorials, and other times they are inscribed in the memorial itself. The International War Veterans Poetry Archives (IWVPA) website is a memorial made of poetry.
I've written many poems about veterans and war memorials, including some entire series where most or all of the characters are veterans. Poems that introduce some of my recurring veteran characters include "From the Free City," "Dragon Tiger Wind Cloud," "Sonset," and "A Different Beat." Poems specifically featuring memorials include "Memento Mori" and "In the Line of Duty." Newly posted to accompany this essay is "Written in Stone." I tend to focus on the cost of combat rather than the glory.
I also enjoy reading war poetry by other people. My favorite poem about veterans is "I've Seen Some Lonely History" by Leonard Cohen, for the evocative way it captures the confusion and isolation of PTSD. "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" by William Butler Yeats is another standout for its view of sacrifice as relating to homeland rather than fame or duty. "In Flanders Field" helped associate the poppy flower with veterans: a wearable memorial. "No Man's Land" by Eric Bogle is a song lamenting the futility and repetition of war. "For a War Memorial" by G.K. Chesterton expresses similar sentiments.
What are some of your favorite poems about veterans and war memorials?
War memorials may represent a battle, a whole war, or some other event. Older ones, such as those of World War I, are usually grand and somber structures. More recent ones may have interactive aspects. The underlying theories of design and meaning in war memorials have evolved over time.
Poetry often plays into honoring veterans and war memorials because it lends itself well to expressing emotions and ideas that are difficult to put into plain speech. Veterans may read and write poetry as a way of processing their experiences. People may recite poetry for Veterans Day. Teachers plan lessons around war memorials. Poems are among mementos left at memorials, and other times they are inscribed in the memorial itself. The International War Veterans Poetry Archives (IWVPA) website is a memorial made of poetry.
I've written many poems about veterans and war memorials, including some entire series where most or all of the characters are veterans. Poems that introduce some of my recurring veteran characters include "From the Free City," "Dragon Tiger Wind Cloud," "Sonset," and "A Different Beat." Poems specifically featuring memorials include "Memento Mori" and "In the Line of Duty." Newly posted to accompany this essay is "Written in Stone." I tend to focus on the cost of combat rather than the glory.
I also enjoy reading war poetry by other people. My favorite poem about veterans is "I've Seen Some Lonely History" by Leonard Cohen, for the evocative way it captures the confusion and isolation of PTSD. "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death" by William Butler Yeats is another standout for its view of sacrifice as relating to homeland rather than fame or duty. "In Flanders Field" helped associate the poppy flower with veterans: a wearable memorial. "No Man's Land" by Eric Bogle is a song lamenting the futility and repetition of war. "For a War Memorial" by G.K. Chesterton expresses similar sentiments.
What are some of your favorite poems about veterans and war memorials?
no subject
Date: 2013-11-19 10:03 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2013-11-19 11:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 12:04 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2013-11-20 12:06 am (UTC)Re: Yes...
Date: 2013-11-20 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-20 01:45 pm (UTC)"Surely angels they will see
As in the Gate they march;
But whose name will be on their lips
Upon the entrance made?
"Brother! Commander! Lieutenant! Sir!
Their true comrades in arms."
Wow!
Date: 2013-11-20 06:40 pm (UTC)Many things in dreams are subjective based on cultural associations; so for instance, a snake symbolizes sin or danger to a Christian but transformation and the Goddess to a Pagan.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-21 12:50 am (UTC)I have a few favorite war poems, but there are two in particular no one ever seems to mention: "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", also by Eric Bogle, and "In Memoriam" by Ewart Alan Mackintosh.
--Alisa
Okay...
Date: 2013-11-21 04:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 12:48 am (UTC)While it isn't quite a memorial poem, I think For Eli by Andrea Gibson is one of my favorite veteran-related pieces because of its emphasis on how we (mis)treat our veterans. It can be viewed/listened to here.
no subject
Date: 2013-11-22 01:02 am (UTC)O_O
Date: 2013-11-22 02:13 am (UTC)