Don't complain about optimism

APO 96225 by Larry Rottmann is a somewhat depressing poem.  It tells the story of a conversation between a soldier and his mother through mail while he is in war.  There exchange is full of situational irony.  At first the soldier does not want to frighten his mother with the worries of war and says "Dear Mom, sure rains a lot here (line 3)."  However, she repeatedly asks for the truth about what is happening, and after several letters, her son tells her that he killed a man and bombed women and children.  However, this makes her too emotional, and the soldier's father has to write back telling him to be more pleasant.  The irony comes from the fact that the soldier's mother begged him to tell her the truth about the war; however, after hearing it, she did not want to hear it because it was too depressing.  The soldier's final repetition of the phrase "Dear Mom, sure rains here a lot" is humorous because he does change the response.  The phrase "a lot here" is changed to "here a lot."  However, the sentence is the same, even if the mother's knowledge of the situation is different.  I think that people tend to do this same kind of behavior quite often.  People act happy when they are actually sad, and people who know better still play along.  People who can recognize problems in government and society often feel like they are too difficult to fix, and so pretend that everything is fine.  I think the author is not only saying "Be careful what you wish for," but also pointing out the insanity of feigned naivety.  The mother's, or rather the father's final response to his son is ridiculous as his parents would know he is lying, but instead of facing the truth, they  pretend that everything is okay.  Optimism is great, but there is a point when its purpose is lost.