Day 20 brings us D.C.-area poet, John “J.D.” Smith, with a poem entitled “Questions on Recruitment.” The poem originally appeared in Against Agamemnon: War Poetry 2009.

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE POEM

In a very simple, straightforward approach, J.D. takes the idea of an all-too-common occurrence — young men weaponizing their bodies — and flips it around, points toward our elders and wonders aloud what truth do they know that prevents the same.

Questions on Recruitment


Where are the old men
who would dress in explosives
and detonate in a crowd?

Why don’t they, instead of smoking,
fingering worry beads, drinking coffee,
offer what’s left of their flesh
to a greater cause?

What do they know
from their abject decades—
mainly spent in filling
and emptying their lungs,
watching the weather without ceasing—
that they would wish the same
on a stranger, even an enemy
of the true faith?

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A Poet a Day is a month-long celebration of poets and poetry, in honor of National Poetry Month. Writers reserve all rights to their work, and all work appears with their permission.

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