Day 33: Comfort Woman
Lai Khe
Some of them smile when they walk in,
Some of them laugh.
Some of them look like they will never smile or laugh again.
The fans
almost move the air
in here.
They sit.
They relax.
They have come from the field
where they found the enemy
and lost friends.
They come here for comfort.
Do I give them comfort?
Comfort, woman.
Did they get comfort at home?
Have they found comfort here?
Where do I turn for comfort?
One walks in slowly, more wearily than the others.
Is he looking for comfort?
He drinks from a bottle, cold, water trickling down the sides.
The bottle sweats,
just like he does.
And someone says to him,
“How many days, short-timer?”
He lifts the bottle showing the label: 33.
Ba Muoi Ba.
I look down at my badge, and that is my number.
33. That’s me.
His smile is not as wide as that of the one
who asked him, who has a fresh-faced friend
who says, “I can’t believe it’s legal here.”
He has 33.
I have
“Saigon tea, hundred p”
and the rest of my life.
He reaches into is pocket,
takes out his money and shows it to me.
From somewhere far off,
right in front of me, I hear “Short-time?”
I get up and go with him.
He puts aside his 33.
As I will put mine aside.
He leaves the discomfort of his fears, his nightmares.
I bring my body with me.
With this I give him comfort.
by Contributing Poet Donald McNamara Copyright © 2017
VWP 2020 First published in his book, Which the Days Never Know: A year in Vietnam by the numbers.
Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, 2017
Day 91: UCMJ
Article 91
of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
the UCMJ,
covers insubordinate conduct toward
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and petty officers.
So it prohibits
striking or assaulting
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers
in the commission of their duty,
or,
willfully disobeying
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers,
or
treating with contempt or being disrespectful in language or deportment to
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers,
and says that anyone who does any of those things
to
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers
will be punished as a court-martial directs.
The article
wasn’t invented for the Nam,
but it got a real workout there.
by Contributing Poet Donald McNamara Copyright © 2017
VWP 2020 First published in his book, Which the Days Never Know: A year in Vietnam by the numbers.
Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, 2017
Lai Khe
Some of them smile when they walk in,
Some of them laugh.
Some of them look like they will never smile or laugh again.
The fans
almost move the air
in here.
They sit.
They relax.
They have come from the field
where they found the enemy
and lost friends.
They come here for comfort.
Do I give them comfort?
Comfort, woman.
Did they get comfort at home?
Have they found comfort here?
Where do I turn for comfort?
One walks in slowly, more wearily than the others.
Is he looking for comfort?
He drinks from a bottle, cold, water trickling down the sides.
The bottle sweats,
just like he does.
And someone says to him,
“How many days, short-timer?”
He lifts the bottle showing the label: 33.
Ba Muoi Ba.
I look down at my badge, and that is my number.
33. That’s me.
His smile is not as wide as that of the one
who asked him, who has a fresh-faced friend
who says, “I can’t believe it’s legal here.”
He has 33.
I have
“Saigon tea, hundred p”
and the rest of my life.
He reaches into is pocket,
takes out his money and shows it to me.
From somewhere far off,
right in front of me, I hear “Short-time?”
I get up and go with him.
He puts aside his 33.
As I will put mine aside.
He leaves the discomfort of his fears, his nightmares.
I bring my body with me.
With this I give him comfort.
by Contributing Poet Donald McNamara Copyright © 2017
VWP 2020 First published in his book, Which the Days Never Know: A year in Vietnam by the numbers.
Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, 2017
Day 91: UCMJ
Article 91
of the Uniform Code of Military Justice,
the UCMJ,
covers insubordinate conduct toward
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, and petty officers.
So it prohibits
striking or assaulting
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers
in the commission of their duty,
or,
willfully disobeying
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers,
or
treating with contempt or being disrespectful in language or deportment to
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers,
and says that anyone who does any of those things
to
warrant officers, noncommissioned officers, or petty officers
will be punished as a court-martial directs.
The article
wasn’t invented for the Nam,
but it got a real workout there.
by Contributing Poet Donald McNamara Copyright © 2017
VWP 2020 First published in his book, Which the Days Never Know: A year in Vietnam by the numbers.
Elephant’s Bookshelf Press, 2017
Bio: Donald McNamara served in the U.S. Army from July of 1966 to July of 1968 and served as a line infantry soldier in Vietnam from January of 1967 to January of 1968 with the First Infantry Division. He spent 25 years as a print journalist and 15 years as a college professor. He has a PhD in English from The Catholic University of America. He is retired, living in Whitehouse Station, N.J.
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