Who says a soldier can't be a poet? In this one short book, Brian Turner became one of my favorite poets. His poems are visceral, emotional, sometimes violent, tangible, and above all, REAL. Personally, I think poetry is the best way to really experience a place or event through literature. That isn't true for everyone, obviously, but it is for me. Although I will never truly understand what soldiers go through, this short anthology has brought me just a little bit closer.

A few things that strike me: Brian Turner, even while he experiences the worst things war has to offer, never loses his humanity. He's caring, he's observant, he's still able to recognize the beauty of the place he is stationed, even if that beauty is soaked in violence. He never loses his ability to care for people, to love, and in fact wonders in his second to last poem if this year as a soldier has made him a lover. In another poem, "Sadiq", he says that no matter what happens to you or how angry you are, you should never enjoy killing.

Every poem in this book struck me. Many of them made me feel as if I'd lost my breath. They are absolutely fantastic. True wonders.