Gerardo Mena
Mena himself is a decorated war veteran, who spent years stationed in Iraq. Naturally, we can expect that many of these poems are informed by his own experiences of warfare.
The praying soldier
In "Hero's Prayer," Mena's speaker prays for a dignified or honorable death, hoping that his last breath will be "whispers of curses and sworn vengeance." This is contrasted with the darkly humorous ending of the poem, in which the soldier wishes that he will not die "from an incoming mortar round as I jerk off in the porta-sh*tter."
The little boy
In "How to Build a Sand Castle," the speaker tells us about a beach, with what appears to be "white powdered sand." However, he tells us that it is not sand but is "something else." He then introduces a young boy who is making sandcastles with the sand.
