Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

Brilliant poem. I think it describes war in an interesting context. Essentially, I read it as the life story of an unnamed soldier (unnamed because, in the military, you are not an individual. You are part of a unit) in five lines. Its succinct nature shows how short this guy's life really was. He was probably very young--18, 19, 20--when he enlisted and was subsequently shot to bits. The poem opens with his birth and then immediately  (within the same line, in fact) speaks of him in the military, almost as those he went straight from being born to fighting in a war. Like he never had any time to grow up and really live. It's chilling really. Then at the end, when he dies, they wash him out of the turret with a hose. It's not a personal thing at all. It brings to mind a cold, unmoved feeling. It doesn't say they mourned. It doesn't say there was a funeral. Only that they washed him out of the turret with a hose, in preparation for another young man to take his place, almost like nothing had happened at all.

Diving Into the Wreck

I know no one agrees with me, but I still don't see this as a feminist poem. I think she's literally diving ito a shipwreck. The "book of myths" is just that: a book of stories surrounding the shipwreck, which have been written by sailors and explorers of times passed. The "merman in his armored body" represents the explorers that came before her (indicating that, perhaps, the wreck was discovered by a man--though that has no bearing on the meaning). The reason that "our names do not appear" in the book of myths is because even though Rich has gone into this wreck, and explored every crevice, just as explorers before her did, she will get no credit. Her name, nor the names of other modern explorers, will ever be credited for diving into the same wreck. If the book of myths were the Bible, the line "our names do not appear" would not make sense. There were tons of women in the Bible, and many had names. Now you're going to say "Many, but not all." Well, I'll point out then, that many men have names in the Bible, but not all. It's not about sexism. It's about a shipwreck and how Rich has explored said wreck, and she feels a little sad that textbooks won't list her among those who discovered the wreck.
I don't think your sexual preferences have any bearing on whether or not you like to go diving.

Hands

It was debated in my group, and we were kind of split down the middle, but I don't thnk Wing was gay. Affectionate, sure. Caring, absolutely. When he touched George, he withdrew his hands. Not for fear that he would go too far, but for fear that the action would be misinterpreted. He was just an affectionate, caring, loving teacher with feminine characteristics. It says in the story, that a young boy  "imagined unspeakable things." This boy dreamed that Wing had touched him or done inappropriate things and then "went forth to tell his dreams as facts." He didn't abuse those children at all, but when an accusation like that is made, it's a fucking witch hunt. You can't prove you didn't touch the kids, and that's apparently evidence enough to burn you at the stake. Or in Wing's case, beaten in the school yard.