The following found poem was created based on Eileen Breedlove's poem "Coming Home", which expresses the feelings many soldiers felt after they returned home from the war. This poem can be linked to Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried and the chapter "Speaking of Courage".
Her original poem can be found here:
I don't need an orchestra
Or rockets in the sky
Please don't turn away from me
Look me in the eye
Locked up so deep inside
There are many things that haunt me
Don't tell me to let them go
They're the reasons that I cry
You see, I'm not the same
Part of me has died
I've left many that I love
Behind
For unknown reasons I survived
I'm coming home.
Discharged with no disguise
This poem portrays how messed up soldiers become when they go to war and how the society they return to is unable to understand and promote proper healing in soldiers who have come home. Lines such as "please don't turn away from me" and "don't tell me to let them go" exemplify how poorly we treated the soldiers. When it says "there are many things that haunt me" and "part of me has died inside" it illuminates soldier's need for help dealing with the traumatic experience of war.
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