Author Description

A Military Writers Society of America 2016 Gold Medal in Poetry winner! An overseas tour de force and a memoir-in-verse! An evergreen satire of the "Forever War" in Afghanistan and Iraq! Armed with deadpan snark and poker-faced patriotism-and rooted in the coffee-black soil and plain-spoken voice of the American Midwest-journalist-turned-poet Randy Brown reveals behind-the-scenes stories of U.S. soldier-citizenship. "From Boot Camp to Bagram, Afghanistan." And back home again. The book includes haiku, sonnets, and less-traditional forms of poetry, intended to create moments of emphathy and conversation among military veterans and civilians. Here's a taste: THREE CUPS OF CHAI-KU 1. I had hoped, I guess, for something more like Starbucks, not yellow water. 2. We build our nations one tea party at a time. They serve, we protect. 3. No one here can lead this endless talk of action. "Que shura, shura."