Tuesday, April 03, 2007


i had asked if quaker dave would post a poem or 2 of his on his blog after he wrote about national poetry month.

today i read this on his blog and was just blown away, in a great way!
he has been kind enough to let me post it here.

i love this poem.

thanks dave!



http://thequakeragitator.blogspot.com/





MONUMENTS by QuakerDave

i.
His marker reads “Vietnam” and lies.
He fought that war with the Navy in Spain,
Prime billet, lots of women,
No snipers, except for the shots
Of whiskey and speed that lit up his nights
Like intravenous flares.
Hand to hand combat with the Shore Patrol
In the steaming jungles of downtown Madrid,
Killed much later by a clever booby-trap:
An oily spot on a rain-wet West Virginia road,
Too slippery for motorcycle tires to catch,
Death alone in a cow field,
(No rice paddies for miles),
No medic, no buddy to run


from the cover of the woods
To Evac him home to where his twin sisters
Were carried from his funeral.

ii.
Next to the Wall of Fame
In the lobby of my old high school,
Next to the photoed rows of surprised-seeming faces
If adolescent immortals,
Are the bronzed names of all the world beaters
Who choppered from here to the real world
To die in the Television War.
Football bomb squad/Special Forces hunter-killer,
Only one name stands out:
The first cousin of a friend from grade school.
This kid and I were on Safety Patrol together,
Assigned to provide for the common defense
At the same dangerous intersection.
My friend missed a day of school
To go to church when his cousin came home.
Stepped on a mine, he said,
So they gave my aunt a flag.

iii.
I visit the long black wall:
Between the lines,
All our names are there.



(c) The Quaker Agitator

No comments: