[net.poems] The Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner

ken@models.UUCP (03/06/84)

Thanks to all who replied to my request for identification of this poem.
It's by Randall Jarrell, an American (1914-1965). Here it is:

	The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

	From my mother's sleep I fell into the State
	And I hunched in its belly til my wet fur froze.
	Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life
	I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.

	When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Ken Winston
{philabs, cmcl2!rocky2}!cubsvax!models!ken