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VIETNAM  WAR  POETRY
​
MICK TERRY 

​Face to Face 

                      [ Based on interview of  Vietnam War veteran  Rich Luttrell  
                        
by  Jane Pauley  on  NBC-TV   1-28-05,  4-13-05 ]

We'd been in Indian Country nearly three days.  So far, Charlie had not yet been seen.
Our uniforms dripped with rancid sweat.  Our whole world was shades of tan & green.
Out on point, I led our squad through thick vines, when there’s suddenly one man ahead.
I don’t know who was the more surprised, but one of us would soon be dead.

Seconds ticked by, dragging to forever, with his eyes completely locked to mine.
Instead of fear, curiosity, with his head the slightest bit inclined.
Then my training finally took me over, M-16 spit bullets through his gills.
My sergeant slapped me upon my back, congratulating my first kill.

          Face to face, it’s all right in this moment.
          Face to face, it all adds up to now.
          Just where our lives are leading from ecstasy to torment:
          Face to face.

There’s a battle raging in the forest.  There’s a battle raging in my head.
A man lies dead in the jungle path, all his  clothing turning into red.
From his pocket falls a damaged photo of him holding his young daughter close.
I’ve seen a lot of family shots, but this one haunts me more than most.

          Face to face, it’s all right in this moment  ...

Thirty years pass:  my wallet held that photo ‘til I left it at the Viet Wall.
Thought maybe now I could find some peace.  Maybe that would be the end of it all.
But behind the scenes, there’s something happening:  items left there honored in a book.     * 
Beyond my reach, out of my control, I’m forced to take another look.

                    Is it just coincidence that leads us through our lives?
                    Is this all just happenstance or some divine purpose?

Through a sequence I can barely fathom, here I find myself again in ‘Nam.
Bouquet in hand, I approach the home of the girl I took her father from.
What does one say to someone that you’ve orphaned?  How does one ask someone to forgive?
With grace and warmth, she accepts me in:  a closure where her father lives.
​
          Face to face, it’s all right in this moment.
          Face to face, it all adds up to now.
          Just where our lives are leading from ecstasy to torment:
          Face to face. 


by Contributing Poet  Mick Terry   Copyright © 2005 
VWP 2019     First published in  VietnamWarPoetry.com 
                       Pittsburgh, PA  -        These song lyrics requested by  Thomas Hall,  printed in the program   

                                                         & read live to large  Memorial Day event   2006  
                                                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF_SP8-CbdA 


*   Offerings at the Wall:  Artifacts from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Collection
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1833827.Offerings_at_the_Wall  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/08/06/website-showcases-mementos-left-vietnam-wall/31104037/ 
Bio:  Mick Terry,  composer-songwriter lyricist,  is the  Co-founder,  Web Designer 
& Webmaster of this  VietnamWarPoetry.com  website. 

For more info, please see his bio on the  About Us  page. 
LinkedIn.com/in/MickTerry 
​
 

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