*

from "The Story That Got Away" by Shahaduz Zaman

"Madam, there is a terrible war raging outside, and I have been running for hours. Can you give me some water to drink?"

She clapped her hands and cried out with joy, "War? Oh, what fun! Where?" She rushed to the window.

From behind her, I saw that the procession outside had re-formed. Some people were shouting joyously, "Downfall!" while others were burning an effigy of the head of state. But the effigy was that of a Bengali! I looked around the room. What country was I in? I looked outside. What time period was this?

*

from "Back to the World" by Vladislav Bajac

No doubt I was experiencing some kind of catharsis after ten years of wars that brought about disintegration and destruction not only of the country but also of the human individuality of those of us who experienced the wars. The delicate proposition that each person has an inalienable right to his own unique identity had been crushed. Even though the political course of events suggested that the situation would inevitably change, and likely for the better, it was hard to welcome the new reality with an open heart: things had gotten so soiled, it was difficult to believe that they would ever be clean again.

*

from "Last Song of Saravat" by Sharon May

The Khmer Rouge had disappeared, but only on the surface. They still fought on the border. Other former Khmer Rouge now ran the country, backed by the Vietnamese. Our past had not disappeared, only submerged so deeply we could not exorcise it. Maybe the next generation, or the next, would forget. Or maybe they would carry it in their blood, even if we did not speak of it.

*

from "the scent of thyme" by chester aaron

The men probably never thought of him as human. He was controlled, authoritative, consistently the reliable platoon sergeant. None of them would be able to call up an incident in which he had demonstrated fear or even doubt. It had been that consistent never-failing authority that had dissolved or at least eased fear or doubt in the most reluctant member of the Second Platoon. There had been several reluctant members during the ten months his unit had been in action, many of them dead now or back in the States in hospitals. A fortunate few were home. None of this explained to Sergeant Sabini his refusal to run across the meadow to join the line.

*

From "At the racetrack" by Ayukawa nobuo

How miserable it is
to go back to being alone
on the empty bleachers!
This lonely ripple in this boundless emptiness
big enough to hold ten million people.

*

from "the grim reaper " by shepherd bliss

Robert Bly begins his poem "In the Month of May," "I see when I walk how well all things lean on each other." As our vets' group goes on its afternoon walking meditation, I notice how well the trees and other vegetation lean on each other. Such leaning can create great joy and the capacity to endure pain and suffering. The reverence and humor of our being together enable me to speak more of my truth, ask for help, and lean toward others, thus dispersing some of the isolation that has long dogged me.

Photograph by Shinji Salmoiraghi

*

from "whisper yet " by ch'oe yun

My child, it's a war out there. Always a war, whatever the year, whatever the hour, whichever the continent. No matter how hard you try to escape it, and whatever defenses you put up, the smell of war seeps through the cracks in every door—you can't hide from it. It's a horrible smell, hard and sticky, and it cuts up the world in straight lines.

*

from "Heartless Willy" by Leo Litwak

Mother seemed to really believe the fairy tale of relocation and rehabilitation. The Jewish Weekly published letters from those who had gone East. The letters reported hard labor in service to a new life.

She felt, why not a new life? The old life was nothing to shout about. Rations were scant. We spent our days in queues. We had no choice, so why not take a positive attitude toward changes we couldn't resist? Nor was the idea of redemption terrible. Work might make us better people. We'd grow our own food, achieve new bodies, become simple peasants and obedient sons.

When I mocked these fairy tale beliefs she said, "How will you survive if you believe in nothing?"

I asked how she would survive if she believed in everything.

*

from "My Pacific War on the Hidaka Plain" by yumiko tsumura

I practiced writing characters
on the edge of newspapers
filled with war propaganda
under a dim light
the spirit coming out of a radio
was explosive

*

from "On Being unfree" by david shulman

"This is your chance," he says to them, patiently, calmly, slowly articulating the words so he can be sure they are heard. "You can meet real people today—the people you think you have the right to control, the people you don't allow yourselves to see. You think they're your enemies, but everyone here is devoted to peace. They just want to be free, and they will be free, and not through violence. Come down and talk to them. Listen to what they have to say." And so on. The soldiers look right through him.