Poet aims to illustrate reality of war

Ken Stewart wants to change the way UNM students think about war.
Stewart is a poet, Vietnam veteran and physician working at UNM Hospital. He will give a reading from his book of poetry, The Smell of Blood, as part of the Bookstore’s Wednesdays at Noon poetry series.

“The U.S. is in the longest war it’s ever been in, and admittedly with no achievable goal,” he said. “What I’m trying to do with this book is show people the outrageous experience we lay on men and women who go to war.”

Stewart reads his poetry to raise consciousness about the experiences soldiers face in wartime. He said he objects to the poor-quality coverage the American media give to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It bothers me so much — do you even know there’s a war going on? What’s in the newspaper about the war?” he said. “It’s like it’s not even happening, and to me that’s criminal.”

The mass media’s portrayal of the war is unable to bring home the true impact of war that soldiers feel, Stewart said. And that’s why he based his poems on the true experiences he went through in Vietnam.

In one poem “Jungle Smell,” he describes his ability to “smell the future” — he says he could smell blood before it spilled, warning him that combat was approaching.
“It’s my experience of what happens in combat. … You become more attuned to the natural world, more animalistic,” he said. “I was always sneaking around quietly in the jungle. It’s amazing how much more complete your awareness of the environment becomes.”

The politicians that make the decisions to go to war are never the people who fight wars, and that makes it easier for them to make the decision, he said.
“If you feel it’s so important to go to war, and you have the power to do it, you should be the first on the plane,” Stewart said. “Our society should hold the politicians and people who make wars responsible.”

Stewart said politicians such as Robert McNamara, an architect of the Vietnam War, should be held accountable to society for their actions.
“(McNamara) was an intelligent, reasonable person and he knew this was an unwinnable war, and he perpetrated it and lied about it,” Stewart said. “And 20 years later, he gets tearful and says he’s sorry about it. That’s not acceptable, and he shouldn’t be forgiven. That’s a horrible thing.”

Stewart said he hopes to talk with people at his reading who are considering joining the military.

“I would hope anybody who’s (thinking about a military career) would come to the reading and hear about this stuff, and I’d be happy to talk to them,” he said.

*Ken Stewart
Selections from The Smell of Blood
Noon
Wednesday
UNM Bookstore
Free

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