Rhymes of the Rookies: Sunny Side of Soldier Service

What happens when a civilian becomes a soldier? W. E. Christian answers with verse that's equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and quietly devastating. Written in 1917, Rhymes of the Rookies captures the rookie's eye: everything is strange, everything is absurd, and everyone is just trying to survive until tomorrow. These poems walk through army life in all its messy humanity. There's the bunkie who's rough around the edges but would walk through fire for you. There's pay day and the brief paradise it brings. There are endless hikes, brutal drills, and the strange magic of foreign lands seen from a tired private's boots. Christian never lets you forget that war is hell, but he also never lets you forget that soldiers are human, and humans find humor in the unlikeliest places. This is soldier poetry from the ground up, unglamorized and unforgettable.