Transition
Sunset lit up the sky with wondrous reds and oranges
Gradually muting to purples and grays
The men moved around, preparing for the nightly onslaught
Soon, the beauty of that sunset would be replaced with
The horrors of the war.
Death, carnage and debris would litter this potentially
Fruitful land ... and for what?
An idealistic belief that one way was better than another?
They called it different names.
Police action, political support, etc.
Only those who knew called it the truth.
Day after day
New boys arriving to replace those taken much too soon
Or those who had made It through their "Tour of Duty"
In one piece
Or those who would never walk normally again, never be able
To know the joys of being a parent
To return to their homeland
Only to suffer the indignity of being spit on
Or called baby killers.
To find no jobs available to support their families
And no support from the government who sent them
To that foreign land.
The friends we made, and lost.
The pieces we retrieved of those who served
The innocent who were caught in the middle
And those who were anything but innocent
by Contributing Poet Sananda Allsgood Copyright © 2015
VWP 2015 First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Sunset lit up the sky with wondrous reds and oranges
Gradually muting to purples and grays
The men moved around, preparing for the nightly onslaught
Soon, the beauty of that sunset would be replaced with
The horrors of the war.
Death, carnage and debris would litter this potentially
Fruitful land ... and for what?
An idealistic belief that one way was better than another?
They called it different names.
Police action, political support, etc.
Only those who knew called it the truth.
Day after day
New boys arriving to replace those taken much too soon
Or those who had made It through their "Tour of Duty"
In one piece
Or those who would never walk normally again, never be able
To know the joys of being a parent
To return to their homeland
Only to suffer the indignity of being spit on
Or called baby killers.
To find no jobs available to support their families
And no support from the government who sent them
To that foreign land.
The friends we made, and lost.
The pieces we retrieved of those who served
The innocent who were caught in the middle
And those who were anything but innocent
by Contributing Poet Sananda Allsgood Copyright © 2015
VWP 2015 First published in VietnamWarPoetry.com
Bio: Sananda Allsgood - [ no biographical information provided ]
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