The Harvest Moon in Iraq

Surge. I'm lost in the meaning of this word and confused as to why the powers that be at the Department of Defense settled on the term "surge." Note that "swelling" is one of the most used adjectives in the dictionary definition of the word ...

surge - Pronunciation[surj] noun, verb, surged, surg•ing. –noun 1. a strong, wavelike, forward movement, rush, or sweep: the onward surge of an angry mob. 2. a strong, swelling, wavelike volume or body of something: a billowing surge of smoke. 3. the rolling swell of the sea. 4. the swelling and rolling sea: The surge crashed against the rocky coast. 5. a swelling wave; billow.

(crossposted at Dailykos)

I gave the breath, —and thought it not amiss, I gave the breath to men, For men to slay again.

I think my brain is swelling. My heart has already crashed against the rocky coast. I sat across the table a few days ago from Nick. I, who am never short of words, who rarely shuts up, who usually has something in the neighborhood of the right thing to say at the right time. At least I imagine I do. Hubris, perhaps.

Over the twilight field, Over the glimmering field And bleeding furrows, with their sodden yield Of sheaves that still did writhe, After the scythe,...

What could I say? If I knew what to say, how do I say it and what should the expression on my face be? Could I have controlled the fear, the nerves, and proferred a calm facade if I asked the questions I was anxious to ask? Would my knowing make it easier; would it make his path harder? I'm a parent, I want to make it right. When I'm scared, I ask questions, I want knowledge. Knowledge fights fear. Right.

The teeming field, and darkly overstrewn With all the garnered fullness of that noon— Two looked upon each other. One was a Woman, men had called their mother: And one the Harvest Moon.

It was one of several days of his last leave before deployment. Nick is returning to Iraq. It will be his second deployment to Iraq; he turns 21 in May. Two tours of war before he's allowed to drink legally. There's something obscene in that. I wanted to ask questions, deep questions on how he felt about returning again and what he knew of the current situation in the Anbar and what type of protection he had this time around. Would he have the full body kit this time? What type of helmet – Kevlar or the ACH for more protection against traumatic brain injury?

And one the Harvest Moon Who stood, who gazed On those unquiet gleanings, where they bled; Till the lone Woman said...

When you give birth to your child, there is something in being a mother that is like shooting marbles, solo, in slow motion. You hold the marbles, sometimes clear and sometimes opaque, in the concave cup of your hand, protected, withheld from the world and from danger. You unfurl the marble carefully out of your palm to the bend of the joint in your index finger, nudge it gently with the tip of your thumb. You know that the closer the marble gets to the edge of your palm, the more likely it is that you will lose control of the colorful sphere. The marble is round and slick and made for rolling away, not to be held tightly in a guiding hand.

But we were crazed ... We should laugh now together, I and you; We two. You, for your ever dreaming it was worth A star’s while to look on, and light the earth; And I, for ever telling to my mind Glory it was and gladness, to give birth To human kind.

Was he going to accept driving missions and go outside the gate when he wasn't arming copters so that he has a better chance at promotion, or was he going to keep his head down and do his job on base? Was he going to keep his head down; should I ask that, should I introduce more nerves, more fear into the short term?

Pentagon: 'Civil war' inadequate term for Iraq war WASHINGTON (CNN)-- A new Pentagon report said some elements of the war in Iraq fit the definition of civil war, but the term "does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict." CNN

You get the marble into position. Poised to shoot, it starts to slide in a different direction from where you are aiming. This is your child. There is a point at which a child moves beyond your comfort, beyond your protection. You cannot retrieve that initial and early transient bond of parent to child, the link between minutes in the very brief time you thought you were in control of your child's destiny.

I gave the breath, —and thought it not amiss, I gave the breath to men, For men to slay again; Lording it over anguish, all to give My life, that men might live, For this.

The bond forged by age and vulnerability and love. The love stays if you are lucky. The age grows older and less patient. The vulnerability changes into something you can no longer protect in the circle of your arms.

The quarterly report, mandated by Congress, said attacks and casualties documented for the last three months of 2006 are the highest since the war began four years ago. CNN

Was there a chance he'd be reassigned to a different group because of his expert rating on rifles? Would he be more directly in the line of fire? Who would he be firing at if he had to fire his weapon? What does he think his mission is? What do his commanders say?

The report says warfare in Iraq has morphed from a predominantly Sunni-led insurgency against foreign occupation to a struggle for the division of political and economic influence among sectarian groups and organized criminal activity." CNN

Like a round glass marble on your smooth and flattened palm, any hold you thought you possessed over your children's future rolls away. Wikipedia has a fine and curious sentence on the art of [marble shooting: "A useful strategy is to throw a marble so that it lands in a protected or difficult location if it should miss the target."

You will be laughing now, remembering We called you once Dead World, and barren thing. Yes, so we called you then, You, far more wise Than to give life to men.

I didn't learn a useful marble shooting strategy. In no way can I guarantee that my children will land in a protected location if I miss the target, if they miss the target. I can guarantee their position will be a difficult one.

surge - Pronunciation[surj] noun, verb, surged, surg•ing. –noun 7. Electricity. a. a sudden rush or burst of current or voltage. b. a violent oscillatory disturbance. The troop increase brings the number of additional forces being deployed to Iraq to more than 31,000, nearly 10,000 more than the number President Bush initially said would be needed for the "surge." CNN

Why is this surge moving forward?

Over the field that there Gave back the skies A scattered upward stare From sightless eyes, The furrowed field that lay Striving awhile, through many a bleeding dune Of throbbing clay, —but dumb and quiet soon, She looked; and went her way, The Harvest Moon.

(Harvest Moon by Josephine Preston Peabody)

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