John
( 1946 - 1968 )
He was a country boy
Used to pee in the weeds.
Had his share of girls in the hay in the barn.
Not Charlotte. She was going to be the mother of his children.
Charlotte would wait, and he would join the Navy
Escape the Army draft. The recruiter told him he could study electronics.
He would return to her employable, ready for marriage and babies.
Once he was in, the Navy sorted him out
to train as a medic, a good job for a smart boy
who would go into combat unarmed,
to save Marines, the Cream of the Navy.
John didn’t die right away. He was in Nam two weeks,
into the field the first day of TET,
his lower body shot up.
John died later.
In and out of consciousness on the hospital ship
he had enough time to know that Charlotte
would have to find another guy
to father her children.
by Contributing Poet Ester Prudlo Copyright © 2015
VWP 2015 First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com
( 1946 - 1968 )
He was a country boy
Used to pee in the weeds.
Had his share of girls in the hay in the barn.
Not Charlotte. She was going to be the mother of his children.
Charlotte would wait, and he would join the Navy
Escape the Army draft. The recruiter told him he could study electronics.
He would return to her employable, ready for marriage and babies.
Once he was in, the Navy sorted him out
to train as a medic, a good job for a smart boy
who would go into combat unarmed,
to save Marines, the Cream of the Navy.
John didn’t die right away. He was in Nam two weeks,
into the field the first day of TET,
his lower body shot up.
John died later.
In and out of consciousness on the hospital ship
he had enough time to know that Charlotte
would have to find another guy
to father her children.
by Contributing Poet Ester Prudlo Copyright © 2015
VWP 2015 First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Bio: Ester Hauser Laurence Prudlo is the author of children’s books, fiction,
non-fiction articles. Her poems have appeared in VerseWisconsin, Madison Magazine,
Birmingham Arts Journal, Postcards & Prose, Lummox. New Mirage Journal & in several anthologies.
She taught creative writing courses with University of Wisconsin Extension.
A retired counselor to soldiers and inmates, she and husband Tony,
now spend summers in Wisconsin and winters in Alabama.
non-fiction articles. Her poems have appeared in VerseWisconsin, Madison Magazine,
Birmingham Arts Journal, Postcards & Prose, Lummox. New Mirage Journal & in several anthologies.
She taught creative writing courses with University of Wisconsin Extension.
A retired counselor to soldiers and inmates, she and husband Tony,
now spend summers in Wisconsin and winters in Alabama.
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