Tigers and Songbirds

By J. Cruickshank Muir

Tigers and Songbirds is a book of poetry, not a textbook or a sermon. A response to combat in time of war, and to a lifetime of reclaiming the lost self, it is a work of surpassing honesty, clearly rendered sense, soul and beauty.

Wrought in battle but far exceeding the scope of war, it lays bare the warrior’s brutal initiation and transformation in the crucible of battle, and then the nightmare aftermath – the sudden and unceremonious drop back into “the world” – into a society that still has no rituals for reintegrating its weary, wounded warriors. The veterans of Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and now, Iraq, had no mitigating transition

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. Cruickshank Muir
• Release date: Mar 13, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301432240

J. Cruickshank Muir

J. Cruickshank Muir, MEd, is a decorated, disabled Marine Corps combat veteran of the Vietnam War. At the height of the Cold War, he served as a Marine Embassy Guard with the U.S. Department of State in Europe, and lived a significant part of that era’s history. A regular presenter at New Mexico State University and formerly at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he is a poet, essayist and retired high school Social Studies teacher. Active in local, regional and national veterans concerns for more than 30 years, he is a Production Manager in film and television for Muir Media, and, married since 1980, he lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico with his wife, two children and a long dog.

Book preview

Tigers and Songbirds

by J. Cruickshank Muir

Copyright 2013 - J. Cruickshank Muir

Smashwords Edition

Muir Media

Las Cruces, New Mexico

www.jandsmuirmedia.com

[e-mail]

J. Cruickshank Muir’s Tigers and Songbirds is a book of poetry, not a textbook or a sermon. A response to combat in time of war, and to a lifetime of reclaiming the lost self, it is a work of surpassing honesty, clearly rendered sense, soul and beauty.

Wrought in battle but far exceeding the scope of war, it lays bare the warrior’s brutal initiation and transformation in the crucible of battle, and then the nightmare aftermath – the sudden and unceremonious drop back into the world – into a society that still has no rituals for reintegrating its weary, wounded warriors. The veterans of Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf and now, Iraq, had no mitigating transition.

Both strange and familiar, discomfiting and reassuring, Tigers and Songbirds is the brutal truth sometimes framed in grown-up humor. Muir's work succeeds in ways the psychological and sociological tracts do not. It speaks from and to the heart and the mind of the combat veteran, the loved ones lost and gained, the hurting, and the healers. Tigers and Songbirds is for all.

Acknowledgments

There are so many who have made this work possible that I am afraid of even beginning, for fear of leaving some of you out. First and foremost I must ac- knowledge my wife of 30 years, the inimitable Sam. She came into my life at exactly the right moment, saved me, and has made every moment since a joy.

My son, J.C., and my daughter, Morgan, are a constant wonder, and two vital reasons for my not having given up when it would have been so easy to do so.

Dr. Walter Capps of the University of California at Santa Barbara, to whom this book in dedicated, you have been, and continue to be my mentor, guide, and inspiration, even after your untimely passing.

Dr. Larry Decker, your patient and wise council saw me through so much. Wilson Hubbell, like so many of our fellow Vietnam Veterans, your strength and sense of honor shine like a beacon, and I continue to seek to live up to your example.

Dr. Richard Hecht, of UCSB’s Department of Religious Studies, thank you for gallantly stepping up to fill the giant void left by Walter’s passing.

As for the hundreds of students whom I have had the privilege of addressing, not only at the University of California, but also at Dos Pueblos High School, you have unfailingly taught me so much more than I could ever teach you.

My colleagues and friends, you have pushed and shoved me to write, and to infuse my teaching with my own experiences, allowing me to demonstrate that passion and commitment still have a place in American education.

To all of you, and to so many others, my undying love and gratitude.

Dedication

To the memory of Dr. Walter Holden Capps, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California, and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Long before most others, Walter recognized the pain suffered by