In the Labyrinth

Live By The Sword: Andrew Knighton

I am very excited to see the second story I selected for the "Warrior" theme, "Live By The Sword," by Andrew Knighton, is now available at Wiley Writers -- both in audio and text versions. I really liked this story -- which captured at once the more traditional gladiator tales with something much more unusual; compassion and generosity. Knighton illustrates the commitment warriors make to one another – even when they are gladiator slaves from different countries forced to fight against a common enemy and sometimes against each other. Magic and art, warriors and monsters. Yeah...great story.

"Where the Dacouvri Died" by Brian Bolton

It is appropriate that on Memorial Day, Angel McCoy of Wiley Writers released the first of two stories I selected (during my very delightful stint as a guest editor)  for the "Warrior" theme. The story "Where the Dacouvri Died" by Brian Dolton (a consummate short story writer from New Mexico) is a tale that so perfectly describes the tense relationship between civilians and warriors. Stop by and have a read or a listen to the story and then check out all the other wonderful fiction Wiley Writers offers.

Here is my introduction to the tales:

As editor for Wily Writers this month, I chose the theme of Warriors, those compelling and complex characters in traditional myth and history. Unlike the heroes of folktales who are often thrust alone or by accident into their roles, the warrior chooses his path, hardening his or her body against an anvil of arduous training. And while the success of this endeavor depends on the fortitude of the individual, the warrior rarely trains alone but in the company of comrades.

Such communal training forges bonds of unbreakable loyalty in life and in battle. Their individual names are less important than their collective identities – Amazons, Spartans, SEALs -- which spark fear in their enemies and joy in the hearts of those they are pledged to protect. The hero returns home from his challenges triumphant and becomes king or ruler of his people, reintegrated into civil society. But warriors remain as themselves, a powerful cohort, something set apart from civilian life which regards them with the twin emotions of fear and respect.

I am grateful for the opportunity to have read so many interesting fictional representations of the warrior figure this past month. It added a lot to my overall thinking about this unique character. The two stories I finally selected depicted the difficult challenges facing warriors – not in battle which for all practical purposes is their home -- but in their ambiguous relationship to the civilian world as well as their durable commitment toward each other.

In Brian Dolton’s elegantly spare story “Where the Dacouvri Died,” the focus is not on the coming battle, but the tension between the warrior’s pragmatic views of the fight and the rage-filled villager who abandons all thoughts of civility in the desire for revenge.

Photo Credit: Actress Song Wen Fei, who recently died at age 27 -- a great loss to Chinese cinema.

The Two Most Powerful Warriors

 

"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." Tolstoy

While this quote from Tolstoy seems to contradict our conventional idea of the warrior -- all speed and action --it does makes a certain sense for the mothers of warriors. As the warrior leaves for battle, those waiting at home confront a tumultuous war of emotions: the fear of losing a child, of never seeing him again, of not being able to protect him from grievous harm. It can be a chaotic and exhausting worry. The mothers of warriors make prayerful promises, light candles, carry tokens and talismans, and in some fairy tales, a mother vigilantly tends a plant -- for her son has told her, "if the leaves begin to wither and die, then you will know I too am gone."

Frances Richey -- a single mother whose only son enlisted -- spent the period of her son's training and deployment writing The Warrior, a Mother's Story of a Son At War. It is a memoir written in poetry as a way to both record and contain her emotions in verse. In an interview Richley talks about the tension between caring directly for her son and the warrior who is now on his own perilous journey:

"When I look back over the years of Ben’s growing up, it seems that a combination of magical thinking, prayer, and a sense of instinctive knowing have always sustained me when I was somehow prevented from protecting him...When he was in Iraq, an image of him in a concrete bunker surrounded by maps kept popping up in my mind’s eye. I had no way of knowing where he was or what he was doing. If my subconscious was throwing me the lifeline of a comforting image to hold on to, I wasn’t going to reject it...

...While Ben was deployed, I felt cut off, for the first time, from the ability (real or imagined) to intuit whether he was okay or not. That’s when I started praying. I think this mix of wishful thinking, prayer, and deep connection had to be in the poems because they were integral to my emotional survival during Ben’s deployments.

To survive the battle of emotions at home, mothers (and indeed families) must learn to become warriors of time and patience -- waiting with strength, gratefully acknowledging the time that has safely passed, and celebrating when a letter or an email suddenly appears. They must wear the armor of patience and learn to hold steady, focused on the future day of their child's return.

No Putting That Genie Back In The Bottle: New Women Warriors

One of the biggest concerns I have had as the Afghan War lumbers toward a conclusion is the fear that the condition of women will worsen once the Afghan government makes it peace with the Taliban -- a precondition of which is the return of women to the traditional society that existed before -- denying them rights, access to education, participation in their country, and virtual chattel slavery. But as I began writing about Warriors -- this came across my desk and it made me very happy. Misogynists fear nothing more than a well armed woman who knows how to shoot. Bringing Afghan women into the Special Forces is a bold and interesting military decision.

"Before we joined this unit, our operations were done by foreign troops and they did not know our culture. People were critical so we joined to help out," Delawar, a former policewoman in Jowzjan province, said. "I have already fought the Taliban. My comrades were martyred in fights with the Taliban and we have killed them too, but during the night raids I haven't fought insurgents yet."

Third-lieutenant Binazir, 24, said, "I'm proud to say that I'm here to serve my country side by side with my brothers. I'm proud that Afghan girls are here and I hope more girls join in order to provide better services for brothers and sisters in the battlefield and save lives."

Here is the full article: "Elite Female Night Raiders Break Down Barriers."  (Probably some doors too...)