Words of War: A Literary Lifeline for the Battlefield

Even the newest of correspondents knows not to go into a war zone without the right training, the right gear and the right exit plan. But some seasoned reporters have learned that they need something more to sustain them through the bleak days and nights of carnage. Something to remind them of the humanity beneath the inhumanity. For some, it is poetry.

Few correspondents are more seasoned than Alissa J. Rubin, who in 15 years at The New York Times has served as a bureau chief in Baghdad,…