The below poems were originally published here at Whiteout Press in 2012. One is written by Chris Kyte and brought to our attention by a group of veteran wives called Battling Bare. The other is the poem-pledge of the spouses, children and loved ones of those that have returned from war, not quite whole. It was written by Ash Wise, founder of Battling Bare and the wife of a tormented veteran.

The first poem, written by Chris Kyte, was for a friend and veteran named Irey. As the author explained in an interview about the poem, “Most importantly, I wanted Irey to know that someone cared – someone knew what he did. Someone tried to understand his anguish. Someone respected him, cared for him and admired him for his strength, courage and bravery. There are too many Ireys out there – struggling to cope with life after they did jobs that most of us would never do – could never do and that is just not okay for these Soldiers to be suffering like this.”

The second poem, written by Ash Wise, was composed after she and her vet husband sought treatment from the VA. She relays the story about how they were both treated like criminals. They were forcibly separated and her husband was even arrested and charged with a crime. Wise explained, “The last thing a soldier needs is to be separated from his wife. Guys kill themselves because they think they are such a burden to their families.” Ash Wise founded Battling Bare and penned the poem which has taken on the title, ‘Broken by Battle’.