I count each day as a blessing that I wake up to the sounds of birds and sunshine. The birds singing and the children playing aer sounds that remind me of more peaceful times in my life, which are forever lost. For I've seen the world on fire, and have looked death in the eyes. The memories wake me at night and will always be there. Time has dimmed them, but it only takes a sound or smell to bring them back. Some day they will be forever stilled. But till that day comes, I make peace with them everyday. I try to live the day to the fullest, Because I no longer fear death, or what it brings. For I'm a Vietnam Vet who has finally come home to a land where I can heal the pain of so long ago. All I need is the time and space to find my place in this new world.
Mike G.
Apr. 92
The ground is cold, the night is dark, no stars shine in the sky. A soldier sleeps with an open eye, and a letter near his heart. Tomorrow is another day, at dawn he'll go and fight. He'll think of days so far away, when he was near to hld you tight. Tonight he said a silent prayer. And asked the Lord above, to keep him in his steady care, and return him to his love. The soldier's prayer seems lost unheard, as he fights for those he loves the best. Then at his side a buddy falls, a fatal wound in his chest. He utters not a single sound, as he too now lives on the ground. His eyes are closed, his mind at rest, he gave for those he loved the best.
I vaguely remember you calling something about dominoes falling,
In and out it fades, shadowed by an ace of spades.
Olive drab was in that year with black pajamas, death and fear,
In and out it fades, shadowed by an ace of spades.
Five days with a prostitute to deposit what remained of youth,
In and out it fades, shadowed by an ace of spades.
Later at quilt's request you pinned medals on my chest,
In and out it fades, shadowed by an ace of spades.
When all was said and done, you left me old at twenty-one.
In and out it fades, shadowed by an ace of spades.
You ask how long I've known soldiers die alone,
I killed a man at Pleiku, when he died I died too.
That is when I first knew, soldiers always die in twos.
