Poetry is always so hard to evaluate, as I’m sure you know. A poet writes something with a very clear picture and concept, but sometimes the prose turns things around and opens the door for interpretation. So, I hope that I am close to the mark in my comments below.

This does an excellent job of looking at the different mindsets of new soldiers. In my first few months of active duty service, I learned a myriad of reasons my fellow enlistedmen joined up. They were looking for stability, adventure, travel, new skills, a foreign wife, or simply a job.

No two military members are alike. That is my point, and (I think), yours as well. But maybe my interpretation is way off…your poem could be a cunning deception, really talking about baseball for all I know!

Thanks for thoughtful comment, Ben. I knew it would be vague and intentionally left it that way. I’m glad it resonated all the same.

I’m tempted to explain, but I think I’ll leave it vague for now.

“Little dreamer’s gone to war
Still in his head
The fight ever before
Fantasy hides the ins and out
Paths we choose to take
And all our found doubts”
Has to be my favorite part. I love the vagueness of this passage. It makes the reader draw themselves into the story of the dreamer, molding it into their own.