BRAIN TURNER

Ever since Bush’s State of the Union address last Tuesday I have been debating whether or not I would post a response. My intention for this blog was not for it to become any sort of political forum because I don’t think I’m qualified to accurately debate the issue with the intellectual ammunition I think the subject deserves. Instead I’ll just post a link to this article titled “Where’s the Outrage?”, published 1/16/2007 on Salon.com. In it the author mentions a former infantry team leader named Brian Tucker who recently published a book of poetry titled “Here, Bullet”. After reading the article I thought that Tucker’s words were so much more powerful than that of any commander in chief, pundit or terrorist:

[Author’s note: Here is another Turner poem, whose title means "friend" in Arabic, prefaced with a quotation from Sa'di, the 13th century Persian poet.]

"Sadiq"
It is a condition of wisdom in the archer to be patient because when the arrow leaves the bow, it returns no more.

It should make you shake and sweat,
nightmare you, strand you in a desert
of irrevocable desolation, the consequences
seared into the vein, no matter what adrenaline
feeds the muscle its courage, no matter
what god shines down on you, no matter
what crackling pain and anger
you carry in your fists, my friend,
it should break your heart to kill.