I understood that 'The Yellow Birds' would be a peculiar representation of the experience of being at war. I intended it to be so.
Kevin PowersOne of the things my service in Iraq did give me was this freedom from fear of failure or any kind of expectations that I had to take a standard path.
Kevin PowersThere is a sharp distinction between what is remembered, what is told and what is true.
Kevin PowersThere's something immediate about the experience of reading a poem. It makes sense in my own mind, but I'm trying to figure out a way to articulate it... It's like looking at a painting: you're able to take in the totality of the work all at once, and so processing whatever information that painting is giving you is almost secondary to simply apprehending what's in front of you.
Kevin PowersAll choices are illusions, or if they are not illusions their strength is illusory, for one choice must contend with the choices of all the other men and women deciding anything in that moment.
Kevin PowersThere are definitely connections between poems, but I wanted each to stand on its own. I guess it goes back to the idea of trying to zoom in and out, and to modulate, so there are different ways of looking at any experience for the reader. Even having short poems and long poems - there has to be some kind of variation in the experience of reading as a whole.
Kevin Powers