Professor Chargois asked me to pick three poems and tell how they changed how I see something in life. I thought to myself, I can do this. When it was time to actually do it, I actually could not fine three poems, at first. I decided to choose three out of the poems we discussed in class. The three poems I selected were "Dulce et Decorum est" by Wilfred Owen, "The Mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks and "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden. These poems relate to myself, my father and my children, three things that are very important to me.
"Dulce et Decorum est" by Wilfred Owen is about a day, a moment in the time of war. It animates how awful it could be in the time of battle. Being a soldier myself, you would think I would know how war is or what to expect. You would think that I would have experienced the blood and the loss of comrades. Well I am what's called a "hospital soldier". This poem made war real for me. I've always pictured war as something that could never happen to me. "Gas! Gas!" yes I've heard that before, more than once. Funny, I was always prepared with my mask on my hip. However, I never heard that warning in war, only in training. A soldier of my caliber always take advantage of things we don't experience everyday. A soldier has nine seconds to don, clear, and seal their mask. I've done this several times in my ten years of military service. Sometimes it takes me nine seconds but sometimes it has taken me longer. Maybe it was the lack of motivation, or because I was in the middle of nowhere doing something in the wilderness that I didn't want to do. This poem made me realize that I too can be "drunk with fatigue". I too can be "flound"ring like a man in fire or lime". I now realize that, by society, I am characterized as a killing machine and this is a time for war. My equipment is my lifesaver in an ocean of life. I will never take that for granted again.