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Written while in Vietnam on guard duty (1971/No: 23)
I'm out here on guard duty
Written while in Vietnam on guard duty (1971/No: 23)
I'm out here on guard duty
rifle and all...
(sent a letter to Rachel Welch:
she sent her portrait—back, raw ).
she sent her portrait—back, raw ).
The dust on the path
that leads to my hut
(near the ammo dump)
is dusty and rough...
not much to do here
just talk to yourself
count the hours
as if in hell…
(make sure the VC
don't get too near);
wait for the five-ton truck
to arrive, take me back
(off this dusty road)
to the 611th Ordnance,
where I call home
in this war zone!
((No: 23, 6/19711 (The only poem I write while in Vietnam))
Note: I remember thinking (at the time), I should send a poem home, perhaps to my mother, or send it to someone, anybody, to let them know I was alive, even a magazine or newspaper came to mind. I remember, the day was long, and hot, I was in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, and was selected for guard duty, and when the truck picked me up, to take me back, we drove down along the South China Sea, a smoother road there, and up into our campsite, several miles from the three ammo dumps that occupied the peninsula.
I put the poem in my pocket, and forgot I left it there, would not realize it for awhile, and then tucked it away. The poem was written about June, 1971. It was shortly after this time, we got hit by rockets, which happened about 11:00 p.m., in the evening until, 2:00 a.m., in the morning, and I'd had to go this time inside of the ammo dump to guard again, not sure what we were guarding, the rockets came all round us, and some within meters of us.
The Vietcong would blow up the Air Force dump that evening near us, which was next to Charlie Dump (one man got killed) and our dump being Alpha, was the only one that was spared from being blown to kingdomcome. It was a trying night. Anyhow, after many years, the poem appears, and for the first time since 1971, it is available for reading. It doesn't say much, just a hot day, on guard duty, far away.
in this war zone!
((No: 23, 6/19711 (The only poem I write while in Vietnam))
Note: I remember thinking (at the time), I should send a poem home, perhaps to my mother, or send it to someone, anybody, to let them know I was alive, even a magazine or newspaper came to mind. I remember, the day was long, and hot, I was in Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, and was selected for guard duty, and when the truck picked me up, to take me back, we drove down along the South China Sea, a smoother road there, and up into our campsite, several miles from the three ammo dumps that occupied the peninsula.
I put the poem in my pocket, and forgot I left it there, would not realize it for awhile, and then tucked it away. The poem was written about June, 1971. It was shortly after this time, we got hit by rockets, which happened about 11:00 p.m., in the evening until, 2:00 a.m., in the morning, and I'd had to go this time inside of the ammo dump to guard again, not sure what we were guarding, the rockets came all round us, and some within meters of us.
The Vietcong would blow up the Air Force dump that evening near us, which was next to Charlie Dump (one man got killed) and our dump being Alpha, was the only one that was spared from being blown to kingdomcome. It was a trying night. Anyhow, after many years, the poem appears, and for the first time since 1971, it is available for reading. It doesn't say much, just a hot day, on guard duty, far away.
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