General Discharge
By Gary Mesick
()
About this ebook
With take-no-prisoners wit, these poems range from parody to pathos to draw the reader into a world rich in irony—ambivalent volunteers, uncertain alliances, and self-absorbed citizens. Together, they create a string of wry observations on the American military that could only have come from a career infantry officer with an eye for the absurd. From the surprising first poem through the jolt of the collection’s final line, these poems provide a much-needed perspective on soldiers, veterans—and the nation.
Related to General Discharge
Related ebooks
Notes Of A Camp-Follower On The Western Front Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBiographia Literaria Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe doom trail Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBrideshead Revisited Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bootlegging Kind: An Indoor Story Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGold Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Strumpet Wind Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Light Where Shadows End Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Works of John Hay Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIn the Name of the People Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde & Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Oaths, Signs, Ceremonies and Objects of the Ku-Klux-Klan: A Full Expose. By A Late Member Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCatriona Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPunch, or the London Charivari Volume 107, December 1, 1894 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar Stories: Poems about Long Ago and Now Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Trick of Sunlight: Poems Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRural Tales, Ballads, and Songs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLeader of the Band: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side of the Sky: The Story of a Young Jewish Airman in Nazi Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsI Got Stinky Feet, Volume One, Open Air Asylum Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWith Steyn and De Wet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAdventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands from 1809 to 1815 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Account of Mary Rowlandson and Other Indian Captivity Narratives Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Norfolk Mystery: A County Guides Mystery Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Terrific Melancholy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn the Road to Innsbruck and Back Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLife on the Mississippi, Part 6. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAcross the Plains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Poetry For You
The Things We Don't Talk About Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Better Be Lightning Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Love Her Wild: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Prophet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Way Forward Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Daily Stoic: A Daily Journal On Meditation, Stoicism, Wisdom and Philosophy to Improve Your Life Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Thoughts: An Exploration Of Who We Are Beyond Our Minds Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bedtime Stories for Grown-ups Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leaves of Grass: 1855 Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Inward Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dream Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Edgar Allan Poe: The Complete Collection Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road Not Taken and other Selected Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tao Te Ching: A New English Version Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Japanese Death Poems: Written by Zen Monks and Haiku Poets on the Verge of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTwenty love poems and a song of despair Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Collection of Poems by Robert Frost Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Poems of John Keats (with an Introduction by Robert Bridges) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Enough Rope: Poems Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beowulf Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey: (The Stephen Mitchell Translation) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Divine Comedy: Inferno Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Canterbury Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dante's Inferno: The Divine Comedy, Book One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gilgamesh: A Verse Narrative Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for General Discharge
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
General Discharge - Gary Mesick
General Discharge
Poems
Gary Mesick
FomiteTo every American taxpayer: You’re welcome.
And as for war, my wars
Were global from the start.
—Henry Reed, Unarmed Combat
Contents
Of Arms and the Man
The Anti -War Movement, 1974
Pascal’s Wager: The Cold War Edition
The Man in the Red Sash
Filming Macarthur on Location at West Point with My Old Friend Gregory Peck
Last Class with Balls
Soldier of Fortune
It Wasn’t the War
To my Track Driver, on Trial
Smoker
Rules of Evidence
War Games
Enhanced Interrogation
Breaker Morant
High Noon at the DMZ
Compline: Camp Casey
Yankee, Go Home!
Stand-To
The GI Handbook: Travel Tip #42
Backstage with the Richard Nixon Comeback Tour
We Come in Peace!
Speed Trap at the North Fort Gate
Ambition
Thank You for Your Service
Stonehenge at Maryhill, Washington
The Centralia Massacre, 1919
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Lunch Hour at Pho Saigon
Lloyd’s Rocket
Resume
In Corpore Sano
The Eye of the Needle
Mad Carl’s Neighbors
Skid Road
Lullaby Beneath the Bridge
The Man in Flames
The Traveler Addresses the Good Samaritan The Traveler Addresses the Good Samaritan
Crab Lice
… and He is Us
Inquisition
Attack of the Blue Tarp Zombies
Premise Under Surveillance
Eco-Terrorism Lite
All Hallow’s Eve at Starbucks
The Church of Football
Belly Bumping
Road Crew Babe
The Good Word Mission Church in the Strip Mall
Poverty Bay
Cooking Show
Great Books of the Western World
English, Please
Trinity Row House Brickwork
Manhattan
Wasps
Annual Performance Review
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Of Arms and the Man
The Anti -War Movement, 1974
Armored Personnel Carriers sat un-Guarded
De-facing our school, so, having no greater cause
To occupy our time, we found several sticks of chalk
That would not be missed and went to work.
Somewhere else, the earnest caretakers of the APCs
Hand-to-handed out leaflets and declared the virtues of service
In the National Guard. Meanwhile, we crept, concealed by junipers
And rhododendrons to the edge of the garden,
Then darted between the two parked, tracked vehicles,
Until we reached the far flank. Then with our chalk,
We traced encircled semaphores for peace,
And we exhorted no one in particular to Stop the War,
Which was, to all reasonable persons, already defunct.
Nobody prevented us nor