The first week in March, I saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall with the names of 58,267 people of my generation who were killed or missing in that war. This morning I woke up remembering 3 short poems that I wrote about 50 years ago.

ROTC Drill at the University of Tennessee Martin

The thunder of 2,000 feet 
Shakes the surface of my mind. 
If we could only find, 
The key to love and brotherhood,
Instead of joining opposing teams,
And as it seems, 
Preparing to annihilate 
Each other.  

The Meeting 

Two soldiers thrust 
Their bloody bayonets, 
Baring their hearts 
And uncovering the mirror. 
Two frowning faces,
Four moist eyes, 
Meet the awaiting dust, 
With a single thud. 

Vietnam Field -- Green Was Made Red

Green was made red, 
In the middle of the summer, 
With the sun so bright in the sky. 
The field was so green; 
I think it was rice, 
Nourishment for the bodies 
That are scattered amongst it,
Red. 
 

After posting this, I looked at my blog stats for today and saw that I have one reader from Vietnam. As far as I remember, that’s the first time I’ve seen a reader from Vietnam on my blog. The timing on that seems pretty amazing.