YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

"And the father wrote right back,
'Please don't write such depressing letters. You're upsetting your mother.'"
The poem APO 96225 is possibly the most depressing poem I've ever read. Sadly it is also one of the most realistic poems I've ever read. The son who is sent away to war writes his mother and says nothing but "Dear Mom, sure rains a lot here." His mother senses something is wrong and asks her son to tell her what's wrong. However, as the letters are sent they only seem to get happier and happier discussing funny monkeys and spectacular sunsets. As the son's letters get happier, the mother's become more desperate to learn the truth. Finally the son reveals the true horrors he has seen and neglected to tell his mother. Then suddenly his father is the one sending the message and he tells him to not speak such things because it is upsetting his mother. This is a sad indication of a society that yearns to learn the truth and to know all the details but when those are finally revealed the people can't handle the horrors and instead chose to hide them away. We send other people away to die for us and to kill for us, but we do not wish to see it being done. It's sickening but it's true and this poem reflects that hard truth and forces us to look our weakness in the face.