For the Love of Life, Facing Death

Dave and I were excited to see the Feb. 8, 2010,  New York Times article, "A Well-Written War, Told in the First Person" -- for the sake of the writing noted in it, and especially for the jolt of reconnection with poet Brian Turner, author of Here, Bullet. The NYT article leads with Brian and his work. By the way, Turner has an ongoing set of conversations at the "Home Fires" blog section of that newspaper's online presence.

It's Valentine's Day, and there will be a lot of attention to poems among Americans today. Few are likely to think of pulling out poems of survival and shock in Iraq to mark this day. Yet Turner's willingness to paint the tension, loss, and human affection of war remind me that love is far more than a cozy dinner out with one's BFF. It's daily work. And it's a determination to seek meaning among the emotion and experience of life.

Turner's second collection of poems, Phantom Noise, is scheduled for an April 1 release from Alice James Books. I'll preorder a few copies. And, oh yes, to celebrate the New York Times article, Dave has just made available two of our signed copies of Here, Bullet.