William Wantling

William Wantling (November 23, 1933 – May 2, 1974) was an American poet, novelist, ex-Marine, ex-convict, and college instructor born in East Peoria, Illinois.

Wantling went to San Quentin State Prison in 1958 convicted of forgery and possession of narcotics.

However scholar W. D. Ehrhart had established that Wantling never saw combat and did not receive a Purple Heart medal, which would have been awarded to any soldier injured as a result of enemy action.

And without laying claim is a short and shocking poem about the indifference with which the American forces treated killing.

Poetry is about the failure of classic poetic devices to capture the reality and brutality of prison life.