Blue Streak: A Journal of Military Poetry, Vol. 1

Blue Streak: A Journal of Military Poetry | ISSN: 2331-5040 Blue Streak, Vol. 1

The first volume of Blue Streak: A Journal of Military Poetry features 54 poems by 43 poets. These poets range from veterans of the second World War, to veterans of the conflicts in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, to military family members attempting to capture the meaning of “service” in all of its forms. An outgrowth of the poetry component of The Journal of Military Experience, this volume was edited by Wanda Fries, a prolific author and poet whose works include In the Absence of Angels, Ash Grove, and Cassandra Among the Greeks. Each poet represented in this volume, regardless of time in service, previous publications, or worldview, was given the opportunity to work one-on-one with Military Experience and the Arts editors. Each poem, in its unique application of verse to military experience, was peer-reviewed and chosen for publication based on merit and originality.

View the first volume of Blue Streak: A Journal of Military Poetry as a PDF here.

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Front Matter & Table of Contents

Introduction
— Wanda Fries

Nightmare
— Mike Sukach

Dragon Fruit Cacti, Vietnam, 1970
— Bruce Sydow

Tags
— Anonymous

Passing Storm
— Craig W. Steele

In Under a Minute
— Doug Self

In Afghanistan’s Fields
— Chris Heatherly

My Name Is Ruthie, Your Nightly Nurse
— Jack Thomas Kirt

Masks of PTSD
— Judy Bell

Radio Call
— William Howerton

Sunset over Baghdad
— William Howerton

Valhalla
— Virgil Huston

Ramp Ceremony
— Virgil Huston

Afghanistan’s Flanders Fields
— Virgil Huston

Soft Spots
— Mariecor Agravante

The Afghan Blood House
— Gabriel Tolliver

Hanging by a Thread
— Kevin Hough

Unseen
— Heather Sapp

Combat Infantry Bro (CIB)
— Robert Mooneyham

Working
— Jeremy Cox

Blood Brothers
— Winfield Goulden

Honor
— Joseph Miller

On Being the Only Veteran in English Comp II
— Jennifer Childress

The Welcome Tour: Camp Smedley Butler, Okinawa
— David S. Pointer

The High Score Scandal
— David S. Pointer

Training Riley
— David S. Pointer

2 Miles Down the Road
— Ryan Barry

The Poet As Survivor Assistance Officer
— Ed Coletti

Showtime
— Ryan Koch

He Never Shut Up
— Liz Dolan

Army Surplus 1948
— Liz Dolan

When the Darkness Calls
— James Heavy Hackbarth

Pull Out
— Monty Joynes

Viet Nam Village, Ft. Polk
— Monty Joynes

The Helicopters Came
— Michael Lythgoe

Wolfman Jack
— Thomas Michael McDade

I Keep Moving
— Jennifer Pacanowski

In The Heat of Battle
— Kerry Pardue

Quartz Mountain Modern Art Exhibit
— Jason Poudrier

The Smell of Blood
— Suzanne S. Rancourt

Why I Don’t Meditate
— Suzanne S. Rancourt

LZ Some Hill Somewhere
— Fred Rosenblum

Triggers
— Patricia Lee Stotter

An AWOL God
— Dick Hattan

Homecoming
— Dick Hattan

40 Years Too Late
— Dick Hattan

Veterans Day
— Dick Hattan

Divergence
— Dylan Reyes-Cairo

THE ARMY (with apologies to Kipling)
— Geoff Sutton

Lethe
— Farzana Marie

Damn Agent Orange
— Randall Berg

A War Film Documentary
— Stanley Noah

Paranoia
— Travis L. Martin

Rifling About
— Travis L. Martin

The Dead of Peleliu Speak
— William Lincoln Simon