POUI Blog #4

"APO 96225" was my favorite poem that I read this week. I easily understood this poem when I read it. I think that by reading The Things They Carried it made it easier to understand this. Instantly, I was reminded of this book when I read it. The poem shows how little they want to know. The father says "Please do not write such depressing letters." (line 16). The people cannot handle the truth of what is going on. This is sad that the soldier cannot even talk to his parents about what he is experiencing. The public is not able to understand, and they just have to support and act like they care. In reality, the parents could not handle what is truly going on because they cannot face the truth. The situational irony really supportst this poem because although the mom begs to know the truth, when she hears it she is upset and does not know why her son would say that to her. This proves how little the public would know as a result of the inablity to handle the truth of the war.