Rhymes of an Ordnance Man Vietnam War: 1971

Rhymes of an Ordnance Man
[Vietnam War: 1971

An eleven part poem
By Dennis L. Siluk

I had went to Vietnam at the age of 23 [1971, and it was most interesting, there were 205,000 troops there when I arrived. I was asked recently at a lecture [question and answer at a University in Peru, Huancayo, at the Los Andes, Language Center, how I liked it. Most of the students expected me to be down right rigid with my remarks, I think. But the first thing that came to mind was, '...war is a high, and so I expressed that to the students, they were a ting surprised. And so in this poem I try to outline a few of the more normal occurrences, and include the highs one may find in everyday soldiering in a war area:

Part One

Vietnam: Guard Duty at Dusk

I paced along the wired fence
Quietly all night;
There was no stars, no moon

Just timid darkness for my light

I glanced from tree to tree
I glanced from bush to bush
I saw a shadow moving

That never said a word:

Halt, who goes there? I cried. But he
Never heard me, I wondered why (?)

Oh, I called him several times,
As I walked the path alone;
And I watched and watchedbut

Never saw the foliage move.

I ordered him against the fence
The sorry skies were dark like flint;
He heard the click from my rifle go

And cried like a morbid child.

O, I had no time to tarry.
So I said, once and for all:
Clasp your hands against the fence,

Or theyll find you dead tomorrow!

I dreamed about that evil night
Now crowded with the dead;
War is not all love and laughter

he never clasped his hands!

#645 5/2005

Part Two

Vietnam: The Frightful Fool
(Dedicated to the Los Andes Students)

This is not a game, I said
And he quivered his looks away;
All the schooling he has in his head,
Will do for another day.
Run and hide, I cried;
The rockets whistle, isnt for school.

Dye think hed listen? Na,
Not much:
So I screamed Wakeup Fool!
With a cup of grief his way!
for theres no glory to die in
Vietnam; for a country that
Sweeps it soul away!...

And so the fearful fool awoke,
To live another day!...
In this game called face the foe
In the far-off jungles by
The South China Sea.

Part Three

Vietnam: Red Silence

I cannot silence, though I try
The sound of rockets in the sky;
Hurls at us in five-ton trucks:

The odyssey, of staying alive.

Yet, life is still a joyand all is well
(As we make earth our little hell).

Lo!
We who hear wars red silence
(And are still alive to tell)
Lift up your eyes, see heaven,
Get out of the mud, awhile.

In fact, I didnt mind the horrors of war
For that is what we were there for;
Rather, I hated the mud, rain and grime;
And the shrapnel at times.

Part Four

Vietnam: Heroin-day

And I found in the open jungle

Golden light and golden peace

Dwelling!
A thousand birds were singing!

I forgot, I was here to fight

To fight like a devil if need be.
I was in a fogday-dreaming;
Kissing wenches amongst the

Glare and the grime, and trees.

I lay my rifle down to bit

To join the other dreamers yet
Dancing on top of a tin-roofed hut;

As if we were all crazy or nuts.

Fighting: was a far, far cry.

I never knew if the enemy was

Nearby!...

Note: #646 5/11/2005

Part Five

Vietnam: Going Home

Im goin home in the

Mawin
Im glad to have the chance!

Im done with fightin,

ad had my fill of nam!

Im goin, home in the

Mawin

Im glad to have the chance!

Ive had my eap of fun
But now its over;

And I wouldnt trade it
To anyone!!

Note: #647

Part Six

Vie tnam: Morning Rockets

All morning long, rockets shot by
I stood by sandbags, opened-eyed!

At night, at nightthe same
I, and my head dodging such things.

Little I thought, Id die that morning,
For here I am, to write the story.

For out of the mysterious, Vietnam,
Came a blood-red sky for everyone.

Rockets whistled in the bloody sky,
They have tails like hawks, as they fly!

But the worst of all
is when they land
A ghostly fate, in deadly sand!

#648 [5/12/2005

Part Seven

Vietnam: The Ballad of Lustful Luke

Ugh! What a shame;
Let me whisper Lukes lustful game:

Hed make love several

Times a day.

As I swept the dusty steps,
Polished my dirty boots

And cleaned my oily gun
Hed be screwing everyone!!

And that is how we got to know
Each others name (that is so).

And hed say:
You want to play?

And Id answer:
Got things to do, not to day Lue!

Yes, even when in the mist

Of combat

Hed dip-down into
His little hut and screw
Screw his many sluts!

O flee, flee I told him many

Times
Before disease

Warped his mind.

But he never zippered-up

Those olive-green pants,
And thus, his spinal-cord

Collapsed.

Unable to stand: he was
Flown to Tokyo, Japan.

Part Eight

Vietnam: The Barbwire

Their all messed up in the barbwire
(he said); shoot them in the head

lets fire!
Oh, what a time to die.

They never made a moan.
Caught in the barbwire fence:

Wet, with sweat to the bone!

Now here we stand, awaiting command

And the VC hasnt a chance.
And here we swear, smoke and

Crack dirty jokes
As daylight grows awfully dim.

And here we play cards and laugh
While the cursed foe wiggles back,

Back through the barbwire fence;
As we wait for command, and wai t

And waituntil theyre gone.

Part Nine

Vietnam: Mothers Voice

He went away, to war, that

Autumn day
I watched him out my

Window

He sang a song, called

Vietnam
And Im not sure if

He whistled.

Ah yes, my eyes had

Tears
But he couldnt have guessed

That so

For I held them deep inside

My chest
And the pain

He never knew.

My boy, my boy who sings

So sweet
And pitiful proud was

I

But a mother has to let

Life flow, you know
Be it Gods will, her

Son should die!

For peace is bought with love

And tears
Cheers and

Broken hearts

But death is always far

Too near
Far too near:

God, if it be Thy Will.

Part Ten

Vietnam: Carry-on Soldier!

I gave them my best
Out of the jungles of doubt;
To help the fellas in America out!

(Where life is worth living,

no doubt!)

< p>Believe in your mission
That is what I heard; then:

Carry-on soldier; carry-on.!

Its easy to fight, if you think

It is right!
Its a different song, if you think

It is wrong!

But all I heard was:

Carry-on Soldier, carry-on!

Part Eleven

Vietnam: the Cross [1975

And so, the war is now over
Mothers are now with their sons;
And the grieving has ended for many,
And for some, it has just begun.

Smile and try to be happy
Even thought peace was not the prize
For in the valley of hope we have given
Our brave and lovely boys.

Note: these are poems #645 through #656/5/2005

Dennis Siluk http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
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