Table of Contents Acknowledgments ix Preface 1 THE ESSAYS The World Is Watching 8 Batter My Heart with the Liquor Store: or, Teaching Poetry to Teenagers 16 Hell's Music : A Neglected Poem from a Neglected War 32 The Power to Declare 40 James Magner, Jr., William Meredith and Reg Saner: Reluctant Poets of the Korean War 42 What's the Point of Poetry? 67 Kaleidoscope 70 Carrying the Ghost of Ray Catina 73 Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: A Brief History of National Myopia 75 What the Fuss Is All About 80 "I Have to Go Now. Bye!" A Remembrance of Gloria Emerson 83 Concerning Memorial Day 87 "Knock Their Jocks Off, Boys!" 89 The Value of Your Name 93 Words for John Balaban 98 Good Wars, Bad Wars, Forgotten Wars and Poetry 106 "They Want Enough Rice": Reflections on the Late American War in Vietnam 112 Samuel Exler: The Poet as Historian 125 One, Two, Many Vietnams? 131 The Origins of Passion 133 The Pity of War Poetry 137 "That Damned Bad": Fragments from the Life of Robert James Elliott 139 Con Thien and Dancin' Jack 143 Dead on a High Hill: Poetry from the Korean War 147 Ken and Bill's Excellent Adventure 163 Military History of W. D. Ehrhart 187 About the Author 189 Index 191.