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The Hurt Locker by Brian Turner

This poem is clearly anti-war, and from the perspective of someone that has been to war, and experienced it. The pain and suffering is evident, and desolation is conveyed, “Nothing but hurt left here.” The damaged and broken landscape makes a bold statement, war ravages the environment, leaving husks of people. War is an all encompassing fact in a soldier’s life, it takes over and requires total focus. Similar to total war, it controls the psyche of those involved it can leave people broken. After writing my critical research paper on a famous anti-war story, this poem shows that war never changes. The tragedy of war is never what caused the war, and those that orchestrate war almost never bear the responsibility, but those that fight and die bear the scars for the rest of their lives. With brutal honesty, imagery and word choice such as “ the bled-out slumping and all the fucks and goddamns and Jesus Christs of the wounded.” Images of war documentaries, and suffering widespread all over the battlefield, people screaming and begging for mercy and an end to their pain. The horrific sounds and screams drown out the world, for the speaker there is nothing else left but those that are hurt. I can feel the pain in the speaker, those in his position, or worse are dying, and need more attention. The unbelievable nature of war is made ironic through the statements “Believe it when you see it. Believe it when a twelve-year-old rolls a grenade into the room.” War is hard to comprehend, by saying “Believe” the speaker understands that picturing a twelve year old being a murderer is a foreign concept, and one that is vile and sickening. The true nature of war is death, it is shocking, saddening, and disturbingly a fact of life in many places around the world. Human beings are fragile people, we are influenced by our surroundings, and war takes the humanity out of those fighting. For those that have become lost, “Open the hurt locker and learn how rough men come hunting for souls.” That statement is a plea, a plea from a speaker that is suffering from war, a plea to empathize with those that are shells of who they once were from war. The hurt locker is the pain and emotions that these men feel on everyday basis, and the shattered lives of soldiers.

What Every Soldier Should Know

This poem paints a dark and bleak picture for a soldier, and specifically refers to solemn and disturbing advice for soldiers in modern combat. The poem opens with a quote that refers to violence should be “an act of prudence.” It is a warning that when resorting to violence as a soldier it must be out of an abundance of caution. A subtle directive, it can be seen as a motto for a soldier, and shows that they wield considerable power over the people near them, and the situation is fragile. Force is still necessary and without it could leave people defenseless, yet it should be a last resort. The poem is conflicting because it gives off a tone of unfair practice towards the citizens of invaded warzones, but also the deadly nature of those citizens. It gives friendly advice in the form of “Sabah el khair is effective. It means Good morning.” That statement gives me the impression of being kind and benevolent towards people in warzones will be valuable to protecting yourself, and similarly is an important weapon in a soldiers’ arsenal. Protection is an instinct for a soldier, without it they are defenseless, pleasantries are another tool in their arsenal to utilize in wartime. Animosity runs deep in wartime obviously between the two forces that are fighting each other, but resentment is also prevalent in innocents that are caught in the conflict. The evil of war is shown, true hatred bubbles and is exposed in public, “Graffiti sprayed onto the overpasses: I will kell you, American. The soldiers are in constant danger, specifically American soldiers and those living there see them as a foreign force ruining their way of life. In that sense, committing murder is acceptable to those being invaded, and kindness will not save anyone from bullets and bombs. The unfortunate truth is centered around a soldier being in someone else’s land, and not being welcome there. The danger is very real, and those around the soldiers can all be hostile, with no real way to tell. As such “any one of them may dance over your body tomorrow. With every day being another survived, the advice being given through the form of this poem, it is no guarantee that this will protect you. In fact war is plain deadly, and being polite or violent can result in death without any reason other than wartime.

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Born in 1967, Brian Turner is known as a poet, essayist, and a professor. He is a veteran of the Iraqi war, and should come as no surprise that much of his poetry takes inspiration from what he saw and experienced there. His debut collection Here, Bullet, published in 2005 is his most famous work of poetry and won him the Beatrice Hawley Award. He was born in Visalia, California, and raised in Freson, California where he eventually went to Fresno State, and later the University of Oregon. Interestingly, he went to South Korea and taught English for a year. While in the U.S. Army he was stationed in Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina, both during times of conflict and danger. Brian Turner has been featured in a variety of sources from The Cortland Review, Poetry Daily, Atlanta Review, Crab Orchard Review, Georgia Review, Rattle,Virginia Quarterly Review National Geographic, New York Times, and many others. His work has been described as “Achingly, disturbingly, shockingly beautiful” -Nick Flynn. Brian Turner is also married to Ilyse Kuznets, but it has not influenced his poetry as much as war. He has had a variety of jobs before joining the army such as machinist, a locksmith’s assistant, a convenience store clerk, a pickler, a maker of circuit boards, a dishwasher, an EFL teacher in South Korea, a low voltage electrician, a radio DJ, a bass guitar instructor. Finally, his published literature consists of Here, Bullet, Phantom Noise, and My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir.

“Brian Turner.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/brian-turner.

Brianturner.org, www.brianturner.org/bio/.

https://www.rollins.edu/winter-with-the-writers/events/2019/brian-turner.html

Brianturner.org, www.brianturner.org/poetry/.

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https://www.expressnews.com/militarycity/article/Hurt-Locker-war-poet-Brian-Turner-calls-for-10479249.php

https://aah-magazine.co.uk/2013/poetry-master-class-with-war-poet-brian-turner/

https://www.pw.org/content/brian_turner_2

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54140/what-every-soldier-should-know

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54141/the-hurt-locker

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/54143/2000-lbs