Vietnam

Fictionalized short stories I wrote about my time in Vietnam.

 

The Sergeant           Ambush

 

 

Poetry

 

 

 

 

whistle of a shell

everyone dives for a hole

always on alert

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

daily monsoon rain

cricket in its tiny cage

sings to girl's delight

 

 

 

 

 

Trapped inside

by monsoon rain
'không có trường học hôm nay',

('no school today')

she smiled
listening

to her cricket

in its little
wooden cage

sing its song
for her

 

 

 

Haiku





seven days furlough
mad dash round hilly Hong Kong
calm Buddhist temple

beside the dike path

stench of distended bodies

sunlit rice paddies

 

 

 

 

 

struggling to survive

Vietnam, tet offensive

Beatles sing 'Hey Jude'

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've served my time

in hell

travel orders in my hand

home in thirty days

 

Now my fear

is heightened

all I can do

is

 

wait  

 

 

 

The monsoon
seems forever,
showers, sun,
and downpours,
for weeks on end.
Lush land of rice
and ageless
forests blend.



 

 

____________________________

 

Post Vietnam

 

 Haiku




 

over and over ~

surviving the same firefight ~

'neath an Asian moon

unlearning combat ~
an impossibility ~
dreams may terrify

combat took my friend ~

we chat on our daily stroll ~

crimson leaves fade

 

 

 

 

soldiers lie down

sleep the eternal dream

only grass remains

 

 

 

Black stone scars green grass ~
Polished granite a mirror ~
The living, the dead.

--------------------------------
a boy's name, chiseled ~
into polished black granite
old man's reflection




chiseled names
on black granite barrier
tears water the lawn





War

that soulless war
an indelible scar 







 

I think the Tanka below is the best I've written so far. I tried to convey the idea that staring at his young face in the granite, while he stared back, swept away the years from my wrinkled face. I hope I succeeded.

 

 

 


VVA Memorial

touch the name

memories flow through me

no barrier between

arm in arm, old and young

no distance or time intrudes