Thank you GC: Other soldiers have allowed me at times to speak for them I visited and worked with some. Was on the L.A. board of the Jugian Institute for a short time. As such I was interested in many things related to the mind and how it works. I have domnated much time and money towards Veterans Groups.
Getting to the point , for some where they can communicate honestly is very hard. To open up feels like dying , I know!!
I'm blessed that I can!
To joe Michel I do understand. Have participated in a war surly must have shaped you. I think it`s good when someone can analyze his/hes experiences, and but words to the drawn conclusions. You also have a tool in your capacity of writing poems.
So many veteran soldiers have not had that gift as poem and prose writing can serve as and therefore had a harder " after"
The loss not only of my bunk mate and the soldiers in my company. The guilt of survival, the guilt of watching men kill untold women and children in Villages. I never did kill anyone I couldn't, but I stood by silently with my head down and did nothing! My poem tells you all you need to know:
Once a soldier cried out for peace
His voice was little and he felt weak
Go to fight communism they said
His bunk mate took a bullet in his head
All around the area in Vietnam they patrolled
For months they did what they were told
Heads and bodies once vibrant and strong
Were dead , bent or broken in throngs
257 in company E
21 left for all to see
Home and confused that nothing was done
My people treated me like scum
For the destruction of villages of women and children
Ashamed I went hidden and never looked up again
There is no answer to an old man's war
Stay home make peace and try some more
finally today my son joined the Peace Corp
He will try to rectify my sins
His love and my peace are finally a win!
The work I do today in no way pays
But I try to atone and will the rest of my days
As I hear poverty sticken children play
My head is finally raised!!
Joe Michael Solomon
What does that actually means "Loss as a motivator for peace" Maybe It`s my bad English But I should like that you developed that interesting thought a bit *smile*
I feel that it`s something I really do want to understand here...
The Loss of this child I was attempting to help In Vietnam has shapped my life!
Her poem tells all that you need to know!
Essence as in presence is a dominating trait
Bearer wears their halo with eternal grace
Ever present you are, untouchable at times
Undefinable, but it fills my mind
The vision of understated elegance
Put together quietly, but not by chance
The smell of gardenias fill the air
A glint of light twirls from your hair
Beauty, but much more, as that alone is trite
Your presence and posture are just right
Your emotions are on your sleeve and real
You cry openly every time you feel
Yet there is a dignity so strong
Old-fashioned lace and iron-fisted grace
The facts belie an altogether indignant trace
The disdain of the failures of the human race
Unique, as in Tiffany eggs and Monet
You are overly complex, as they say
Lovely and feminine all at the same time
I adore you and remember you as sublime
Gone now to another better place
Gone now to be part of another race
The starvation took the joy and life from your face
Never again will there be of you, even a trace
Joe Michael Solomon
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