" They shared the weight and memory.
They took up what others could no longer bear.
Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak.
They carried infections.
They carried chess sets, basket balls,
Vietnamese English dictionaries, insignia of rank,
Bronze stars and Purple Hearts,
plastic cards imprinted with the Code of Conduct.
They carried diseases, among them malaria and dysentry.
They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds.
They carried the land itself - Vietnam, the place the soil,
a powdery red-orange dust that covered their boots
and fatigues and faces.
They carried the sky..."
They took up what others could no longer bear.
Often, they carried each other, the wounded or weak.
They carried infections.
They carried chess sets, basket balls,
Vietnamese English dictionaries, insignia of rank,
Bronze stars and Purple Hearts,
plastic cards imprinted with the Code of Conduct.
They carried diseases, among them malaria and dysentry.
They carried lice and ringworm and leeches and paddy algae and various rots and molds.
They carried the land itself - Vietnam, the place the soil,
a powdery red-orange dust that covered their boots
and fatigues and faces.
They carried the sky..."
No comments:
Post a Comment