Hope
Let me carry you
Through the darkness
When all your hope is gone
Give me your fear
And I�ll try to give you hope in return
It�s all I can do
In the madness of this war
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/12/2003
Netherlands
_______________________________
A Word of Thanks
(Myron - Zeke)
When for a moment I�ve lost faith
When for a moment all hope has disappeared
You�re always there to help carry my burdened heart
Until its load ain�t so heavy anymore
You stick to me like glue
Don�t think I haven�t noticed
Thank you, Sergeant, thank you
For never letting me walk alone
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/19/2003
The Netherlands
________________________________
The Hill
(The Hill � Horn, when he refuses to go up the Hill again)
The insanity of this war
What the hell am I doing here?
What the hell am I fighting for?
Up the hill
Taking it over
Down the hill
Giving it back
Again and again
Dead soldiers for nothing
Not me
I stay where I am
At the bottom of the hill
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/24/2003
Netherlands
______________________________
Bring Us Back Alive
(Myron - Zeke)
I�ve put my life into your hands
For you to hold and to protect
I�ve put my faith in you
Because there�s no one I trust more
When I look behind me
You�re there watching my back
Always ready to walk beside me
To guide me and the men to safety again
Bringing us back alive
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/28/2003
Netherlands
____________________________
Goldman vs. Vietnam
In a dark corner of my mind
I�m trying to hold it all together
Trying to keep the walls from falling down
By the attacks of images and sounds
In a dark corner of the hooch
I just sit and drink
Hoping the booze
Will give me some peace of mind
And reduce the pain inside to a dull ache
In a dark corner of my mind
I fight a battle of my own
Goldman vs. Vietnam
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/30/2003
Netherlands
_____________________________
Victor Charles
He stepped on a wire
And triggered a mine
An explosion filled the air
Another G.I. blown to bits
Victor Charles listens and cheers
Welcome to the war, soldier
This is the jungle of Vietnam
If you want to stay alive
You�d better watch where you�re walking
And don�t make a sound
Because you are now on Charlie's playground
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
01/30/2003
Netherlands
______________________________
A Promise To Keep
(Zeke - Myron)
I�ve got a promise to keep
One I made to you
The day you came here
And was introduced as my new CO
You looked so young
Too darn young to be my new LT
But there was something about you
Something in those dark vulnerable eyes
that had me promise myself
I would guide you
And protect you the best I could
And that�s what I�ll do, LT
Whether you like it or not
A promise I intend to keep
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/02/2003
Netherlands
______________________________
Worth Fighting For
There are moments when I ask myself what it is I�m fighting for
When I lose count of all the bodies that were once my men
The sun�s shining most of the time
But here in �Nam the sunshine can no longer brighten my heart
Dark shadows are hiding in every corner
Waiting for a chance to grab me
To make me fall apart
I�m barely hanging on
But I�ve got to try
Not just for myself
But for my men too
To make sure they�ll get home alive
Because those guys are worth fighting for
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
January/February 2003
Netherlands
______________________________
Together - Alive
There�s no room
For doubts
Or it will kill you
Here and now
We�re all afraid
We�re all scared
But we�ve got to have faith
And believe we�re going to survive
We�ve got to trust each other
Together is the only chance we have
Of getting out of here alive
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
January/February 2003
Netherlands
_____________________________
I�ve Got You
(Myron/Alex)
The sun shines down on me
And warms my soul
Love makes my heart smile again
I do feel a little guilty though
For feeling the way I do
After all we�re fighting a war here
But that feeling is all forgotten
When you walk up to me
And wrap your arms around my neck
With every mission
It�s getting harder to leave you behind
But you�ve given me something to come back for
I�m no longer alone
I�ve got you
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/04/2003
Netherlands
_____________________________
He Knows
(Myron � Zeke)
I can feel his eyes upon me
Although I can not see
My back is turned towards him
But I can feel he�s looking at me
He�s my friend, my only friend
He protects me with his life
He doesn�t need my words to see
That I need him by my side
I can still feel his eyes upon me
Like a bodyguard
Never letting me out of his sight
He cares about me and it shows
I feel the same way about 'him'
Sometimes
when I catch him looking
I can see he knows
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
January/February 2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Eyes That Reveal Everything
(after the war poem)
There are dark circles underneath his eyes
His skin looks pale
His clothes now hang
on his slender body
Don�t ask him
if he�s okay
You won�t get an answer
Just look into his eyes
And you�ll see everything
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/07/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
For Now
(Myron � Zeke)
Slowly I look up
Into a pair of worried blue eyes
I can�t hide myself from you
No matter how hard I try
I smile a tiny smile
That doesn�t quite reach my eyes
But it�s my way
Of telling you
That I�m all right
�for now
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/13/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Sleep
I lie awake
Staring at nothing in particular
Waiting for the memories to disappear
Into the shadows of my mind
I lie awake
Waiting for the pain to subside
Waiting for sleep to come
Hoping this time
Mr. Sandman will take pity on me
And let me sleep the whole night through
Until it�s time to wake up to the war again
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/06/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
My Sergeant, My Friend
(Goldman - Anderson)
Mission completed
We�re heading back to base
I can�t wait to leave this bird
To escape into my hootch
Away from the worried eyes searching my face
The eagle-eyes of my sergeant
Nothing passes by him
And that�s what scares me more
Than anything else
Because he forces me to look at myself
Real close and real hard
For my own sake, he says
The chopper has landed
And I jump out
Knowing who will be knocking on my door in a little while
Not as my sergeant, but as my friend
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
03/03/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Jack Daniels and I
(Goldman)
Jack Daniels and I
A perfect combination
Good ole JD
The only thing I can count on in this war
To be always there when I need it
With a glass in one hand
And a cigarette in the other
I�m ready to get drunk and forget
With JD it�s as simple as that
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
03/03/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Myron, The Young Man vs. Lt. Goldman, The Soldier
For a second his pain was showing
In the way his eyes were glowing
Grief and anger
And so many unshed tears
Revealing the pain
Showing his fears
For a second it was all there
In the depths of those dark-brown eyes
But a war wasn�t the place to grieve
So he did what Myron Goldman had always done best
He closed his eyes
Wiped away the tears
Then pushed away his feelings
And pushed away his fears
Then he took a deep breath
And opened his eyes
Gone was the boy
In his shoes stood a man
1st Lieutenant Goldman
Ready to face the war
Ready to be a soldier again
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
03/17/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Alex
(Myron poem)
He knew he had to stop now
He tried but he couldn�t
Something inside just wouldn�t
let go of the hold that Alex�s death had on him
He�d been drinking so much
He knew he shouldn�t
He tried but he couldn�t
get rid of the bottle
His only comfort
now that he missed his Alex so much
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
04/13/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Only You
("Doc Hock" - Myron)
It hurts so much
I don�t know what to do
I cried until there were no more tears to shed
I lost her, Zeke. Alex is dead
Now I have only you
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
06/06/2003
Netherlands
___________________________
Mission Accomplished
(The LT's POV)
He had just lost another good man to a mine
The stench of the blood on his fatigues penetrated his nostrils
He needed a shower and fast
Then he had another letter to write
To a mother to tell her that her son had died
After that he would let the whiskey chase away his demons
And toast to another mission accomplished
Damn the war!
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
08/28/2003
Netherlands
____________________
Go Back
Keep the distance
It�s safe behind your wall
You�re fine, you say
You�re such a liar
Brick by brick your wall gets higher
What�s with you?
You�re so afraid to get hurt again
Trying so hard to maintain a professional distance
Damn you, LT
That�s only making you a lonely man
Give your guys back the man they consider family
The one who used to smile
The one who showed he cared
Let them in, because they care about you too
Give them a chance
Go back and join your guys, LT
They�re waiting for you with open arms
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
02/25/2003
Netherlands
____________________
A Missing LT
Where is the LT?
He's not where he is supposed to be
He's not in his hootch drinking whiskey
Has anyone seen the LT?
I have looked everywhere for him
From the shower to the latrines
The LT is nowhere to be seen
Where did the LT go?
He's not where he's supposed to be
Help!
Has anyone seen the LT?
~~~~~
Sonja H. van Schalm
08/27/2003
Netherlands
____________________
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SVS 2003 The Netherlands