Introduction

I had served in the U.S. Army Infantry for four years, 1981-1985, before leaving active duty in order to obtain a college education. Four years later, in 1989, I enlisted into the Army Reserves, thinking that the weekend duty would help me to make ends meet while pursuing a graduate degree in English. I was attached to the 129th Evacuation Hospital as a patient administrator when, in December 1990, my unit was called into active duty.

The following few poems I wrote in January 1991, while in flight to Saudi Arabia and during my brief but memorable tour of duty in what we referred to as "Cement City," before my unit was transported south to the United Arab Emirates.