Once Upon a World War II

by Kazimieras Campe

The poems in Once Upon a World War II delve into a childhood spent living and surviving World War II, starting with Native Lithuania and ending in arrival to America. Unlike parents, children for the most part looked at wartime with a perverse degree of normalcy. Yes, there was deprivation. However, there was an innate desire to make do, in spite of all that war brings with it.

Early Praise

Once Upon a World War II is a collection that puts together vignettes and scenes of childhood in Eastern Europe during WWII. Each poem is like a poignant photograph, some in sepia and others in color, taking us back to moments of clarity with extraordinary craft. Each poem is tight and designed to expand with either feeling or a meaning; the adult is discovering himself in flashbacks from his past in the war-torn landscape, with extraordinary circumstances of survival. With both tenderness and rage, Kazimieras Campe brings the reader into life as a refugee who still manages to find childhood joys hidden in his memories. Finally, the current war in Ukraine is mentioned, and haunting; so many children will share his fate. The poems are inviting, readable, and re-readable.

—Mark Fishbein, MFA Columbia College, Chancellor of PGN Poetry Academy

Not to be missed, this moving glimpse of a child’s experience of life in the displaced persons camp at the end of WWII. We should be thankful that the poet has delved into his memory to share this with us.

—Bradley Strahan, former editor of Visions International

What Campe does in poem after poem is to show us a child witnessing World War II just as it’s starting in Lithuania, “For three days…we lay in muddy trenches and watched pine trunks being peeled by singing bullets and listening to screaming artillery shells.” He goes on to describe living as a displaced child in post-war Germany: “Scout uniforms: Wehrmacht helmets…bayonets replacing pocket knives.”

—Mary Sesso, author of The Open Window

Kaz Campe’s Once Upon a World War II relives the poignancy, amazement, and even humor of his younger self’s experiences during and shortly after this unprecedented global conflict. In sharply observed European vignettes, he rewards the reader with narrative and contemplative poetic insights into a life most of us will hopefully never have to live through. These carefully observed poems personalize and make the Second War’s impact more tangible than any history book account. Childhood memories commence with the war’s onset and shift to subsequent exile, including day-to-day refugee existence in a displaced person’s camp. A brief peek into American life rounds out the collection

—Philip Wexler, author of Bozo’s Obstacle

About the Author

Kazimieras Campe is a retired nuclear engineer who has been writing poetry for over 60 years. In Once Upon a World War II he reminisces about his childhood years throughout the maelstrom of World War II.  His poetry spans a number of journals and magazines, including Visions International, The Hot Callaloo, The University of Connecticut Fine Arts Magazine, The Metropolitan, Innisfree Magazine, and the Dan River Anthology.  His chapbook Why Do We Look Up? (The Poetry Box) delves into multiple views of the relationship between humanity and the universe.  Currently he is working on a collection of poems laced with a modern perspective on Adam and Eve.

The post Once Upon a World War II appeared first on The Poetry Box.

—Conor Cross, teacher of English literature, United States Naval Academy

Why Do We Look Up?

by Kazimieras Campe

In Why Do We Look Up?  Kazimieras Campe explores the multiple views of the relationship between humanity and the universe. By universe, he takes a liberal stance, conjoining the micro and macro features of what surrounds us. The poems tend to be short, posing the challenge of capturing the vast expanse of time, space, and life as we know it. His musings range widely, from elusive sub-atomic particles to the seemingly endless cosmos. His intent is not to provide answers to questions raised in the poems. Rather, it is his hope that we may stop and think, especially whenever we look up.

Early Praise for Why Do We Look UP?

Kazimieras Campe’s poems let us smile with delight as we travel through the universe. We go from  the Big Bang, to black holes, that are to be forgiven for they know not what they do. Then, just when you think you know where you are, you’re at Olduvai Gorge where we ventured to walk, and, sometimes, to think. These poems proudly claim an enjoyable dry wit.

—Mary Sesso, author of The Open Window

With the publication of Why Do We Look Up? we welcome Kaz Campe into the guild of cosmic poets. He juxtaposes cosmic perspectives with everyday takes, using playful turns of phrases, especially when capping an observation. This can make for a refreshing presentation, like the fresh coffee postdating the Big Bang in the opening poem.

—Q.R. Quasar, author of Watching the Universe Die,
The Universe in Bloom, and I, Universe

Kaz Campe’s Why Do We Look Up? is a cosmic tour-de-force poetry collection. His bite-sized poems carry galaxies of insight in exploring the endless space beyond our tiny world’s borders. So many of his poems, the title piece included, pose and ponder questions that are, more often than not, unanswerable but critical to examine. Although the poet may be challenged by pervasive uncertainty about the universe, where it’s headed, and his role in it, his celestial wanderings are accompanied by a comfort of their own. Campe’s intellect, emotional security, and wit, come through loud and clear in these sparkling starlike gems.

—Philip Wexler, author of I Would be the Purple

Kaz Campe whittles his poems with skillful precision. In such a small space on the page, his poetry addresses some of the largest questions about humanity’s positioning within a complicated universe. The language is beautiful in its direct essentiality. This collection fills us with wonder and allows us access to a way of thinking about our origins, our present, and our future. It shows us how our instinctive curiosity can lead not only to scientific knowledge, but to an appreciation for that which we do not fully understand.

—Conor Cross, teacher of English literature, United States Naval Academy

About the Author:

Kazimieras Campe is a retired nuclear engineer who has been writing poetry for over 60 years. In Why Do We Look Up? he explores the multiple views of the relationship between humanity and the Universe. His poetry has been published in Visions International, Potomac Review, The Hot Calaloo, The University of Connecticut Fine Arts Magazine, The Metropolitan, Innisfree Magazine, and the Dan River Anthology. Thematically, his poems explore a wide range of topics. He is currently working on a chapbook with a present-day perspective on Adam and Eve, titled Fig Leaf Is So Yesterday. His other long-time passion is competitive fencing. He and his wife reside in Edgewater, Maryland.

The post Why Do We Look Up? appeared first on The Poetry Box.