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Overwatch
Poet Allen Gray, author of "Overwatch," has given us an intimate view of war; a compendium of poems written with brevity and elegance--and words that generate the power of an IED; exploding the landscape of war.
- GenresPoetry
62 pages, Paperback
First published October 27, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 13, 2011
Very moving poems that convey a range of emotional responses, from everyone involved in combat - active-duty soldiers, vets, spouses and significant others, children, bystanders. I've read through the poems several times already, and each reading reveals a new layer of meaning, a new perspective. This is a book I'll keep on my shelf and revisit often.
April 17, 2013
Due to formatting that doesn't transfer well onto Goodreads, I've decided to post only a part of my review for Overwatch. If you would like to read the full review, please check out the review on Silk Screen Views.
How shall I summarize this poetry collection? The over arcing theme is war. It’s about the soldiers who join up with our military forces with the command to Protect and Serve. It’s about the families of the soldiers. It’s about the events of war and the everyday situations that soldiers live in. Every day isn’t about explosions and death but those elements color everything. It’s about coming back home and finding out how alien home has become. If home has become alien, does that mean you’re alien to it all as well? Does that mean you only belong in the ashes and frames of what you have left behind? And if you don’t want to go back there, are your memories the only reality you have left to hold?
Titles always matter. They’re very important part of a story or book in all formats. In poetry, titles take on an added depth that isn’t as apparent or present in other writing. Sometimes, the title of a poem is the only clue to tie in the disjointed words and images that is in the piece. This proves to be true in many of the poems that are in Overwatch but it doesn’t always help. There are a handful that leaves me wondering and questioning what it’s about. I’m lucky. Why? Because if the questions drive me TOO crazy, I can always turn to Allen and ask him for clarification or an answer.
When people think about conflict and war, they don’t necessarily think about the silence, the down time and the waiting. The minutes that pass on duty while nothing happens and yet you’re suppose to be super vigilant in case something, anything does occur. People may forget that families travel into these dangerous areas and there are people with children and lives living over there in the middle of war.
I’m sure it’s strange to think that waking up in the bed of your room, in your house, can be strange. That it can be disorienting to put on regular clothes, fix pancakes for breakfast and to only worry about what your child needs for the day. Playing catch, buying groceries, going to a baseball game and seeing a movie are all normal things. But what’s normal to a person who hasn’t had those bits be a part of their life for a long time? What’s normal when you’re conditioned to react to high tension scenarios?
If you haven’t wondered that before, maybe you will once you read Overwatch. This is a powerful collection of poems that directs the reader to think about the every day in a different light. It’s about showing you the inside fears and thoughts of soldiers who have experienced more than we’ll ever know.
By no means is this book a light read. It’s dark, painfully colorful, touching and thought provoking. I recommend this to anyone who has a family member in the military, who is a soldier, studies war or would like a peek into what veterans may think, fear and face.
Read More Reviews at Silk Screen Views Website
How shall I summarize this poetry collection? The over arcing theme is war. It’s about the soldiers who join up with our military forces with the command to Protect and Serve. It’s about the families of the soldiers. It’s about the events of war and the everyday situations that soldiers live in. Every day isn’t about explosions and death but those elements color everything. It’s about coming back home and finding out how alien home has become. If home has become alien, does that mean you’re alien to it all as well? Does that mean you only belong in the ashes and frames of what you have left behind? And if you don’t want to go back there, are your memories the only reality you have left to hold?
Titles always matter. They’re very important part of a story or book in all formats. In poetry, titles take on an added depth that isn’t as apparent or present in other writing. Sometimes, the title of a poem is the only clue to tie in the disjointed words and images that is in the piece. This proves to be true in many of the poems that are in Overwatch but it doesn’t always help. There are a handful that leaves me wondering and questioning what it’s about. I’m lucky. Why? Because if the questions drive me TOO crazy, I can always turn to Allen and ask him for clarification or an answer.
When people think about conflict and war, they don’t necessarily think about the silence, the down time and the waiting. The minutes that pass on duty while nothing happens and yet you’re suppose to be super vigilant in case something, anything does occur. People may forget that families travel into these dangerous areas and there are people with children and lives living over there in the middle of war.
I’m sure it’s strange to think that waking up in the bed of your room, in your house, can be strange. That it can be disorienting to put on regular clothes, fix pancakes for breakfast and to only worry about what your child needs for the day. Playing catch, buying groceries, going to a baseball game and seeing a movie are all normal things. But what’s normal to a person who hasn’t had those bits be a part of their life for a long time? What’s normal when you’re conditioned to react to high tension scenarios?
If you haven’t wondered that before, maybe you will once you read Overwatch. This is a powerful collection of poems that directs the reader to think about the every day in a different light. It’s about showing you the inside fears and thoughts of soldiers who have experienced more than we’ll ever know.
By no means is this book a light read. It’s dark, painfully colorful, touching and thought provoking. I recommend this to anyone who has a family member in the military, who is a soldier, studies war or would like a peek into what veterans may think, fear and face.
Read More Reviews at Silk Screen Views Website
November 13, 2011
The military poet has a long and important tradition. He or she tells truths and shares insights that the civilian world desperately needs because it is often the civilian world that decides whether the military is deployed, whether troops are to be asked to risk themselves. Without the right understanding, we cannot make the right choices...if we ever do at all. Modernly the military poet seems to be scarce, a thing of the past. Luckily for us and for the choices we must make, Allen Gray shows that the military poet is not gone. With spare, precisely chosen words that hide the depth contained therein, Gray brings to the reader insights available nowhere else. This is a voice with urgency, a voice that must be listened to. In short, well-crafted and significant poems.
September 20, 2022
A wide variety of poems in this slim volume. Each soldier must work out his war in his way, as does Gray. Stark at times. Sometimes colorful. Sometimes black and white. At times, I felt that personal cognitive leaps bypassed me. And at times, "Trees Speak of Things" better than we can.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews