​Nocturnal Recollections 

(for fellow Nam travelers)
 
in panoramic dreams
silhouettes dance and parade
moonlit flare bright
ridge lines or elephant grass
red green tracer lines
laser above a quaking ground
lava flows though our windows
familiar ghosts bring salt
pour into our wounds
taunting us to laughter
awaken one more time
lathered in sweat


by Contributing Poet  Richard Eric Johnson   Copyright © 2022 
VWP 2022     First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com  

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Talking to Comrades 

what happened
was what happened
 
what could not be
could not be
 
our plans were then
not this now reality
 
I cannot etch 
your name from this wall
 
you were etched back then
this now deep memory


by Contributing Poet  Richard Eric Johnson   Copyright © 2022 
VWP 2022     First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com  

Bio:  Richard Eric Johnson lives and writes poetry in Arlington, Virginia. He has authored four full-length poetry collections and his poetry has appeared in numerous online and print journals. Eric is also a Pushcart nominee. He is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.A. in Germanic Languages and an M.S. in Education. After a tour in Viet Nam and West Berlin, he embarked on a career as a public servant and is now very happily retired.
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