​A Meadow on My Map 

                        It's not a big meadow,
                        and it has no name on the map.
                        First time I went there,
                        two big bears
                        said hello and asked me to depart
                        which I did
                        most ricky tick
                        but the next year
                        I returned
                        and met
                        no bears
                        just one lone bee
                        that wouldn’t fuckin’ leave me alone
                                    buzz here
                                    buzz there
                                    buzz all around
                        so I swatted him down and
                        ever since
                        haven’t felt like a worthwhile person,
                        for some unfathomable reason
                        that bee haunts me to this day,
                        but this poem isn’t about
                                    bears
                                    or bees
                                    or meadows,
                        this poem is about the war,
                        and I leave it up to your imagination
                        to appreciate how hard it is
                        for a shy and sensitive
                        Bambi-loving veteran
                        to deal with that. 


                        by Founding Poet  Paul Hellweg   Copyright © 2016 
                        ​VWP 2016     First published in  Askew  2016 

                        ​Bio:  Paul Hellweg  is the  Founder of this  VietnamWarPoetry.com  website. 
                        For more info, please see his bio on the  About Us  page and on his  Bio / War Poetry  page. 
                        PaulHellweg.com                        PaulHellweg.com/poetry