APO 96225

     The poem APO 96225 by Larry Rottmann is very eye-opening. This poem is about a young man in war who writes letters to his family. His first letter reads, "Dear Mom, sure rains a lot here" (846). His family claims to want to know what is really happening in the war, so the boy writes back "Today I killed a man..." (846). After, the family is upset and would like happier letters, like the first. I think this relates to the attitudes of the American public during any war. We claim to want to hear what exactly is going on, but as soon as it becomes to gruesome, we back away and act like it really isn't happening. There seems to be situational irony in this poem. The mother, when asking the boy to write what is really happening, does not expect the boy to say he is killing men, woman, and children. The reader, too, does not expect the man to keep writing such light-hearted messages. This poem makes us realize we need to be aware of what is really happening overseas in wars, not just the sugar-coated things we hear.