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Monologues (The War Horse Sessions): What Poetry Taught Me About Moving Past War

The first in our series of monologues in partnership with The War Horse.

Words: Laicie Heeley
Date:
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  • This month on Things That Go Boom, we’re passing the mic to three veterans to share their memories in their words. In this first entry: When paratrooper Bill Glose came home from the Gulf War after leading his platoon, silence was his fortress. That all changed when a friend told him to start writing poetry.[...]
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This month on Things That Go Boom, we’re passing the mic to three veterans to share their memories in their words.

In this first entry: When paratrooper Bill Glose came home from the Gulf War after leading his platoon, silence was his fortress. That all changed when a friend suggested he start writing poetry. 

The story is part of a new partnership with the news site The War Horse. The site publishes real stories from veterans that look war in the eye, rough edges and all. If you haven’t heard of them, be sure to check them out. And tune in all month for more monologues.

Additional Resources

Silence Was My Father’s Fortress. I Shared It for a Time Until Poetry Set Me Free, Bill Glose, The War Horse, 2024

Photo courtesy of Bill Glose.

Laicie Heeley

Editor in Chief

Laicie Heeley is the founding CEO of Inkstick Media, where she serves as Editor in Chief of the foreign policy magazine Inkstick and Executive Producer and Host of the PRX- and Inkstick-produced podcast, Things That Go Boom. Heeley’s reporting has appeared on public radio stations across America and the BBC, where she’s explored global security issues including domestic terrorism, disinformation, nuclear weapons, and climate change. Prior to launching Inkstick, Heeley was a Fellow with the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program and Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Her publications include work on sanctions, diplomacy, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, along with the first full accounting of US counterterrorism spending after 9/11.

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