Going Away
I reckon time
By my children’s ages
My daughter is 30
My son is 25
No, this happened
A long time ago
Before I met their mother
How many years was that?
They seemed to be missing
All at once
Stan from Buffalo, NY
Died on some unknown hill
In Da Nang
Little Mac from Chester, Pa
Friend
And alcoholic
Died in a VA Hospital
Big Bob for sure was going
To be a twenty year man
The Texan
Never made it past two.
The memories ache
A burning sensation
That rides and moves
Deep inside
And never heals
Wasn't it just a few years ago
Summer of ‘67
When we fell out for roll call
And waited
Sweat
Slowly rolled down
Big Bob’s neck
Staining his collar
From the corner of my eye
Stan fidgeted
As we waited
Under the merciless sun
Whispering and trading rumors.
The officers came out
NCOs following them
A young Lieutenant
Spoke
Sounding like a rod
Was stuck in his lower back
The NCOs wore sunglasses
The reflective ones
That hid the circles of their eyes
From the shadows
They watched us
Something was going to happen
Just what we weren’t sure.
We listened to names
Like
Saigon
Hue
Republic of Viet Nam
Charlie
Realizing
We were finally
Heading out
On a big bird
Over the Pacific
To swoop down on ‘ Nam
Faces flush with excitement
We hurried
To
Call back home
Check gear
Write last minute letters
No one wanted
To be left behind.
The word was
That it would be over
Before we knew it
We’d be back home
In no time.
I stand alone
Listening
To my breathing
Sound coming in
Going out
Feeling a chill
From some unknown place
In the silence
I ask myself
Where did everyone go?
Copyright © Edmund Siejka | Year Posted 2009
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