Oh, you didn’t perceive that’s what I’d done?  Please read “Eagles’ Wings” again, keeping in mind the horrific possibility that the events depicted therein may come to pass some day too soon.  We pray that they don’t.

Does this poem try to turn into heroes the pilots who might be called upon to undertake such a mission?  Perhaps so, but that is not its primary intent.  Leaving aside the question of whether Israel would be right or wrong in committing such an act in its self defense, i.e., its fight against extermination at the hands of Iran, the poem attempts to explore, however briefly, what it might be like for a soldier to have to say goodbye to all one’s loved ones, knowing that the mission is one from which the pilot can never return, and yet keep secret the nature of the mission.  Is it possible to capture such a unique — hopefully hypothetical — moment in a poem?  That’s what I’ve aimed to explore.

As always, your criticism is welcome and valued.