Best Bien Poems
Lessons learned
by first the Chinese
then France
and the Unites States...
Never underestimate
unconventional units
or guerrilla warfare
supported by regular units...
Dien Bien Phu
Bernard B. Fall
called it
"Hell in a very small place"
soon after 1954
America walked the "Street without joy"
The Viet Minh
attacking satellite positions
seven in all
such names as
"Huguette"
"Claudine"
"Gabrielle"
"Beatrice"
General Giap
former school teacher
later besieged Khe Sanh
saved only by B-52 air strikes...
What men will die for
makes less sense
as time goes by...
Perhaps it is
the unspoken honor
among comrades
and brothers...
Still they soldiered on
60 years has passed
and around the world
the madness has grown...
~ ~ ~ ~
When you compare the facts with the tales of his legend,
you'll find that most stories of his life are pure fabrication.
He is known worldwide for his killer marksmanship with a gun,
but few know his reputation for helping the elderly, the poor and the young.
It's been said that he killed a man for every year of his life.
That would bring his total to about twenty one,
but nine would be a more accurate number according to historical documentation.
Although he killed, he was not at all a wanton killer outlaw.
If given a choice not to kill, that would have been his choice for sure.
He killed in self defense, he killed in an act of war,
he killed in the line of duty and then he killed once more.
He killed to escape his execution.
In all honesty,
I would have killed just like he
had I been placed in the same situations.
Billy Bonney was not at all your classic killer outlaw.
A poor victim of circumstance would accuratly describe his life more.
He experienced more violence in his short lifetime than today's war veterans.
He suffered personal loss that any one of us would find most horrifying,
yet he never lost his friendly, helpful and charming disposition.
In short, if you weren't his enemy, you couldn't help but love him.
His tragic, short and violent life had come to an end
when he was killed by the hand of a Judas who was once his friend.
He was shot in the dark without warning, he was unarmed.
An all night long candle lit vigil followed as everyone mourned.
He was already a legend back when the old west was still untamed and wild,
but legend doesn't portray the brutal harshness of the true life he had lived.
His was the tragedy of a promising young boy,
forced to become a man while still a child
and all would one day know him as Billy, the Kid.
*
Duerme Bien Querido Guillermo
*
I just, seem to get an argument
Sometimes the breeze just calls my name again
But those curls aren't that hard enough
Sometimes I notice the moon looking at me
Desperately, falling in love every second
But when I tried to reach her, I fell to the ground
Thousands of kilometers away
Lightyears of distance, in just a few instants
Our memories became instances
And instead I cried my soul out, again
Now I'm whole, as I accepted the hole in my chest
Turns out it really was a bloody mess, misunderstood even by my meds
Sometimes I feel worse than a fed, the way my eyes are preaching to get a sight of what I need the most, what I love the most
That's my mom, obviously, but also somewhat ironic, maybe a love, I'm not plato neither my feelings are platonic
But I saw, that cute smile and my heart raced like sonic
Was in front of a mirror, this whole time
Whole thing was a mistake, except, how my heart grew and blossom even more
Throughout the drought and the pain it went
"Duerme bien, Querido," she would often think as she would watch him lay asleep.
"Duerme bien, Querido," she would say to him in lieu of "Good Night" routinely.
"Duerme bien, Querido," she now says to him in lieu of "Rest In Peace."
"Duerme bien, Querido," she says on her knees at his grave where she often weeps.
"Duerme bien, Querido," or "Sleep Well Beloved" are the words she had engraved
on the headstone of "Su Amado's" or "Her Beloved's" grave.
Bien venido
God's children
Bien venido
To a beautiful day
Let's not waste that day
By sleeping in
If we sleep in we will
Not sleep at night
So we must enjoy this
Day
Then we decided to go for
A swim
We don't go into the deep area
Because the deep is not
For us
Because we are not a
Strong swimmer
Also we could drawn if
We go into the deep
And also we are not
Planning to die
We are only teenagers
Now
And we will enjoy it
While we can
Because one day our
Teenager lives
Will be over
And then we will start
Our adult lives
Also at night before we
Go to bed
We say prayers to each other
At our teenager lives we
Had our first communion
AIso in our communion
We had cried out of joy
Also we felt very emotional
We never forgot that day
Our father had thought
Us how to pray
And we all had had prayed
Together for one hour
We know that it was amazing