"APO 96225"

I think the title of this poem could be considered an allusion. APO 96225 was an address of one of the most important bases in the Vietnam War. This allows the reader to better understand the context and setting of the poem. Along with the title, I also thought that the form or pattern of the poem was extremely important. The way that the author separates the stanzas shows the progression of the depth and truth of the son's letters to his mother. At first, the son is very brief and chooses not to reveal any gorry details of the war. As the poem goes on and the parents of the soldier beg and beg for more information, the son finally cracks and gives his parents vivid and graphic descriptions of his daily activities. The next stanza is the dad's response to the son telling the truth. This part of the poem is ironic because the parents continue to ask the son for more information, but when he is blunt and to the point they don't want to hear about it anymore. His parents change their mind because they cannot handle the depression and sadness of the war, so the son goes back to talking about the weather. I think this poem symbolizes the distance of the soldiers who actually experience the reality of the war and those back at home who know little or nothing about what war is really like.