You mentioned poems below. I love to write poems. Here is one I wrote.
National Guard

Our soldier leaves home
his wife and his kids
To see what that phrase
"War is Hell" really is.
He carries his weapon, and backpack and gear.
But the hardest to carry
You can't see or hear.
He carries the sound of his precious wife's voice
He hides it behind duty, the man has no choice.
The calls of his children, the tears from their cry.
As he held them so tight, and kissed them good-by.
The looks on their faces, the tears in their eyes.
He gets on the bus and says one more good-by.
From the old to the young
It just rips out their heart
This fear and this anger of being apart.
But soon they'll be home, in our arms once again
We will all start all over
and be families again.
And no matter how tuff the outside world seems
We have our guys with us and we still have our dreams.
And no matter what happens
It may be weary and hard
But we'll all have beside us
OUR OWN NATIONAL GUARD!!!!

I echo the sentiments of apeetrov3...nice poem, wrong venue. Please post somewhere else so people who are looking to discuss Iraq and the national guard would actually care.

Of course, if your intent is to get responses such as mine from hobbyists and providers, I suppose you have achieved your objective.

Thanks for the post Tiffany. Over a year ago I had written staff about the idea of a poetry corner and we were making some progress on it when I had to move.  I wrote at the time that because of the move I would not be available to shepherd it.  I am starting to settle in now and a poetry corner might be something that is doable.  OR someone who knows something about poetry can step forward.  I just hope it is a positive experience if we do it.
 In the post below I wanted to see some poems and also see how people responded to the idea.
 I can easily see how folks might not want the mainstream discussion board to be a poetry forum.
 Let me know (pm is fine).  I will also start a new topic asking for people to express an interest in a poetry corner.
 Again, thanks for posting the poem