A Military Writers Society of America 2016 Gold Medal in Poetry winner! An overseas tour de force and a memoir-in-verse! An evergreen satire of the "Forever War" in Afghanistan and Iraq!

Armed with deadpan snark and poker-faced patriotism-and rooted in the coffee-black soil and plain-spoken voice of the American Midwest-journalist-turned-poet Randy Brown reveals behind-the-scenes stories of U.S. soldier-citizenship. "From Boot Camp to Bagram, Afghanistan." And back home again.

The book includes haiku, sonnets, and less-traditional forms of poetry, intended to create moments of emphathy and conversation among military veterans and civilians.

Here's a taste:

THREE CUPS OF CHAI-KU

1.
I had hoped, I guess,
for something more like Starbucks,
not yellow water.

2.
We build our nations
one tea party at a time.
They serve, we protect.

3.
No one here can lead
this endless talk of action.
"Que shura, shura."