Jade Green Bamboo
Gentle breezes through bamboo leaves
jasmine scented drafts carry hints of rain
the premonition of coming storm
not all minds nor ears attuned.
My loss.
Dawn.
Background noises a cacophony of sounds
horns, bells, voices, barks, breaks
discordant rhythms sound too loud,
peace needed.
Silence.
Jade green forests abound here
Taoist shrines, Buddhist temples, and prayer wheels
scented candles and incense smoke
smut pots and mosquito netting.
Bicycle rickshaws and
Whores.
Open air and street food
Chinese, Thai, Indian, Adobo
smells and noise that assails.
Too young, too soon, too much
shut down, excesses.
War continues in the mountains
and boys die in the deltas
a smell that can’t be purged,
and memories that never fade
life has little value.
Take what you can
do what you must.
drink to forget
just get through another night,
at dawn it begins again.
Jade green bamboo
and jasmine’s sweet smell
otherwise the stench of rot
would overwhelm,
some things are never forgot.
I wont go back.
I cant go back.
Even a week of business.
I can’t go back even 50 years later,
I might never return.
because I was there
Again, last night.
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2024
VWP 2024 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Cross Roads
Not all forays
or incursions
are mounted by
squads of men
A lone GI and a native guide
thread and traverse
miles planting seismic devices
that replicate sounds
Military intelligence
is built on enemy troop movements
PERSID* units provided that data
planted by hand
Trails and crossroads
outside villages
innocuous devices
like IED**
Set, test and
move on
a two-man team
moving at night
Montagnard or Hmong
picks the route
provides the food
best don’t ask what it is
Hiding at rivers edge
or in amongst the mangrove
but always the leeches
so dry land is best
Elephant grass or
hang on a minute vines
provide quick shelter
but creepie crawlies are everywhere
Beware, banded king kraits
or spitting cobras in paddies
centipedes scare me the most
can’t even trust the moon.
A 10 day incursion
out of Chang Mai
old motorcycle to the border
sometimes a helicopter drop
Getting in was usually smooth
getting out
the task
*PERSID Personnel Seismic Intruding Device
**IED Improvised Explosive Device
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2024
VWP 2024 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Mangroves
Star gazing while in the bush
Could be life threating or
Life limiting, so stop and
Pay attention lest Charlie
Moves in next to you.
It wasn’t long ago that
Three men were lost
And one was point man so
When you move among the mangroves
Its likely you’re not alone
But when you do move
In amongst the mangrove
Lethal substances move too
Take care boy ‘cause there’s
Crocks, mosquitoes, leaches,
Snakes, bats, eels, and VC
The Nam
Dances on tip toes
Through the bamboo jungle
And musty earthy smell
Darkness is your friend but
Charlie shares the night
Beware the dawn.
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
In the Provinces
The smell of the earth
The jungle floor
Humid, sweet and sour
The canopy shuts off the light
Sunlight rarely touches the ground
Creepie crawlies thrive
Crawl and slither
Vegetation so green
And the air so heavy
Suffocating
Amid it all
8 and 10 year olds
Run footpaths and trails
At home monkeys on a chain
Early afternoon
After a rice bowl
Tepid beer and rice crackers
Another rain shower
Rain on a tin roof
The VC move in, in the dark
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
You don’t know humiliation until
You’re yelled at and all you can say is “Yes Sir”
You’ve never been abashed and degraded until
You’ve spit on
You’ve never felt a surge of anger until
These things (and probably several more) have happened
That anger is blinding and all senses are suspended
The only thought is retaliation and to set things right
I’ve experienced these things
The humiliation was in 3rd grade
With half of the walk completed
Soiling one’s pants with no alternative but to trudge on home
That’s humiliation
After spending 14 months
In a sweltering, stinking, bug infested jungle
On a return trip home San Francisco
Was a disembarking point from South East Asia
Only to be greeted with hostility
By our own people, yelling and spitting on us
The bile rose in our throats
The bitterness and anger were almost uncontrollable
We served because we were asked
Or told to serve
This was not a ticket to Disneyland
This wasn’t a pleasure jaunt
It was a bit of hell
But the real hell was the “welcoming at home”
We didn’t necessarily agree or support the war
But we went in any event
Once back and in our “civies”
We could join and protest
All we wanted
But most were so put off
By our homecoming
We avoided any direct involvement
I think the closes we got was a beer
And a protest song in a bar
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Life Goes On
A hooch above
Children below
Monkey chained to a beam
Geese in front
To announce visitors
Wood and charcoal fires
Some cooking some just smoking
And then the beauty
Of jasmine scent and flowers bloom
A curried fish meal
With rice and green tea
Old women chew betel nuts
Leaving telltale red mouth
Adjacent rice fields
Water buffalo work
Foot paths abound leading to roads
Men, women, and coolie hats
A sudden rainstorm
A brook becomes a stream
With fish in the roadside gutters
The VC are coming
Life goes on
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Gentle breezes through bamboo leaves
jasmine scented drafts carry hints of rain
the premonition of coming storm
not all minds nor ears attuned.
My loss.
Dawn.
Background noises a cacophony of sounds
horns, bells, voices, barks, breaks
discordant rhythms sound too loud,
peace needed.
Silence.
Jade green forests abound here
Taoist shrines, Buddhist temples, and prayer wheels
scented candles and incense smoke
smut pots and mosquito netting.
Bicycle rickshaws and
Whores.
Open air and street food
Chinese, Thai, Indian, Adobo
smells and noise that assails.
Too young, too soon, too much
shut down, excesses.
War continues in the mountains
and boys die in the deltas
a smell that can’t be purged,
and memories that never fade
life has little value.
Take what you can
do what you must.
drink to forget
just get through another night,
at dawn it begins again.
Jade green bamboo
and jasmine’s sweet smell
otherwise the stench of rot
would overwhelm,
some things are never forgot.
I wont go back.
I cant go back.
Even a week of business.
I can’t go back even 50 years later,
I might never return.
because I was there
Again, last night.
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2024
VWP 2024 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Cross Roads
Not all forays
or incursions
are mounted by
squads of men
A lone GI and a native guide
thread and traverse
miles planting seismic devices
that replicate sounds
Military intelligence
is built on enemy troop movements
PERSID* units provided that data
planted by hand
Trails and crossroads
outside villages
innocuous devices
like IED**
Set, test and
move on
a two-man team
moving at night
Montagnard or Hmong
picks the route
provides the food
best don’t ask what it is
Hiding at rivers edge
or in amongst the mangrove
but always the leeches
so dry land is best
Elephant grass or
hang on a minute vines
provide quick shelter
but creepie crawlies are everywhere
Beware, banded king kraits
or spitting cobras in paddies
centipedes scare me the most
can’t even trust the moon.
A 10 day incursion
out of Chang Mai
old motorcycle to the border
sometimes a helicopter drop
Getting in was usually smooth
getting out
the task
*PERSID Personnel Seismic Intruding Device
**IED Improvised Explosive Device
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2024
VWP 2024 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Mangroves
Star gazing while in the bush
Could be life threating or
Life limiting, so stop and
Pay attention lest Charlie
Moves in next to you.
It wasn’t long ago that
Three men were lost
And one was point man so
When you move among the mangroves
Its likely you’re not alone
But when you do move
In amongst the mangrove
Lethal substances move too
Take care boy ‘cause there’s
Crocks, mosquitoes, leaches,
Snakes, bats, eels, and VC
The Nam
Dances on tip toes
Through the bamboo jungle
And musty earthy smell
Darkness is your friend but
Charlie shares the night
Beware the dawn.
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
In the Provinces
The smell of the earth
The jungle floor
Humid, sweet and sour
The canopy shuts off the light
Sunlight rarely touches the ground
Creepie crawlies thrive
Crawl and slither
Vegetation so green
And the air so heavy
Suffocating
Amid it all
8 and 10 year olds
Run footpaths and trails
At home monkeys on a chain
Early afternoon
After a rice bowl
Tepid beer and rice crackers
Another rain shower
Rain on a tin roof
The VC move in, in the dark
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Where Have All the Flowers Gone?
You don’t know humiliation until
You’re yelled at and all you can say is “Yes Sir”
You’ve never been abashed and degraded until
You’ve spit on
You’ve never felt a surge of anger until
These things (and probably several more) have happened
That anger is blinding and all senses are suspended
The only thought is retaliation and to set things right
I’ve experienced these things
The humiliation was in 3rd grade
With half of the walk completed
Soiling one’s pants with no alternative but to trudge on home
That’s humiliation
After spending 14 months
In a sweltering, stinking, bug infested jungle
On a return trip home San Francisco
Was a disembarking point from South East Asia
Only to be greeted with hostility
By our own people, yelling and spitting on us
The bile rose in our throats
The bitterness and anger were almost uncontrollable
We served because we were asked
Or told to serve
This was not a ticket to Disneyland
This wasn’t a pleasure jaunt
It was a bit of hell
But the real hell was the “welcoming at home”
We didn’t necessarily agree or support the war
But we went in any event
Once back and in our “civies”
We could join and protest
All we wanted
But most were so put off
By our homecoming
We avoided any direct involvement
I think the closes we got was a beer
And a protest song in a bar
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Life Goes On
A hooch above
Children below
Monkey chained to a beam
Geese in front
To announce visitors
Wood and charcoal fires
Some cooking some just smoking
And then the beauty
Of jasmine scent and flowers bloom
A curried fish meal
With rice and green tea
Old women chew betel nuts
Leaving telltale red mouth
Adjacent rice fields
Water buffalo work
Foot paths abound leading to roads
Men, women, and coolie hats
A sudden rainstorm
A brook becomes a stream
With fish in the roadside gutters
The VC are coming
Life goes on
by Contributing Poet Philippe R. Hebert Copyright © 2023
VWP 2023 First published in 2023 in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Bio: Philippe R. Hebert is an upstart poet of 79 years who thirsts for more knowledge in this art form.
A multi-lingual/multi-cultural (English, Spanish, and French) consultant in domestic and international
manufacturing and supply chain with over half his experience being off shore (now retired).
Served in the Air Force SOG unit (1962 to 1968) attached to TAC and ADC as part of Rolling Thunder.
Hebert's book of collected Vietnam poems, Elephant Ears and Bamboo Sticks, is available on Amazon: Here
A multi-lingual/multi-cultural (English, Spanish, and French) consultant in domestic and international
manufacturing and supply chain with over half his experience being off shore (now retired).
Served in the Air Force SOG unit (1962 to 1968) attached to TAC and ADC as part of Rolling Thunder.
Hebert's book of collected Vietnam poems, Elephant Ears and Bamboo Sticks, is available on Amazon: Here
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