Jarrell, Randall. “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner.” The Complete Poems. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1969. 144.
Randall Jarrell has a section in his Complete Poems just for gunners. While this poem is only five lines long, it packs a punch. Evoking images of motherhood and innocence, twisting to violence and death. It is a journey. The last line so disturbed me. Read for youself and see. For once I will not spoil it by spelling it out.
I will be honest, having never faced any war of a political nature, I looked up turret just to make sure it matched what my mind was seeing. It did. That didn’t make reading this emotional poem any easier.
BookLust Twist: From More book Lust’s chapter on Poetry Pleasers (p188).
~*LunaSea*~ 