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Saigon Poems - Poems about Saigon

Premium Member A Saigon Story
We lived in Saigon many, many moons ago Of which I have a tale to share About a pair of my husband boots His favourites…. the ones he loved to wear A shoe shiner came to the work office A teenage boy who looked very poor Walked into the office quickly And stole shoes from at the door He ran with several...

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Categories: saigon, feelings, hope, mystery,
Form: Rhyme
Fall of Saigon
ex-pilot watches Saigon fall disgusted...

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Categories: saigon, angst, war,
Form: Senryu



Premium Member Saigon Times
Why have we not opened our heart borders to the truly desperate,, to the men and women of Afghanistan who've fought long and hard for basic human rights,,, now we're leaving them behind with necks in the shadows of wicked knives.. We've known for quite awhile that Kabul would fall so why have we not yet emptied our embassy, have we forgotten the hard...

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Categories: saigon, perspective, political,
Form: Free verse
Down and Out In Saigon
Down and Out in Saigon Southeast Asia, and Mexico has always attracted A certain type of westerner The down and out On a down word spiral Why? Relatively cheap to live Lots of part-time gigs Teaching English Or other things Cheap Booze, drugs, sex Readily available Places to stay Dirt cheap And no one needs To sleep outdoors Easy to disappear Into the foreigner's backpackers ghettos And escape From whatever...

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Categories: saigon, america, lost, , western,
Form: Quatrain
Saigon 1995
Saigon 1995 Saigon 1995 In 1995 I was one of the first American tourists Allowed into Vietnam To freely wander about Tourism was at its infancy And Saigon was chaotic Wild and crazy Traffic was insane There were few tourism sites Few hotels Few guest houses And not too many restaurants The food was good We saw the war memorial The reunification palace And the big market But we felt we were...

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Categories: saigon, memory, travel,
Form: Quatrain



Saigon 2019
Saigon 2019 Vibrant, vivid, exciting A city on the move Becoming a world-class city Yet still with a Saigon swagger Wandering the streets Dodging the traffic Admiring the women Enjoying the food Saigon enters my heart And I know that I will be back This city is growing on me Reminds me of Korea One hopes that as it develops It will not become a carbon copy Of other...

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Categories: saigon, america, travel,
Form: Quatrain
Ghost of Chu Chi
Crawling down the tunnels Of Chu Chi I could almost imagine The Viet Kong guerillas Hiding deep under the tunnels As the land above is turned Into a temporary dessert With the vegetation burned off By napalm and agent orange The Viet Kong creep out at night Stealing onto the bases Stealing weapons, food, supplies And occasionally killing soldiers In their sleep The US soldiers Stay on base...

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Categories: saigon, america, remember, soldier,
Form: Free verse
Old Lady In the Neighborhood
There is an old Vietnamese lady In the neighborhood Obviously senile But everyone knows her And watches over her To make sure She stays out of traffic And out of trouble She talks to everyone But no one seems to understand What she is babbling on about They smile at her And she smiles back And she for some reason She likes us And like my Vietnamese Coffee lady I...

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Categories: saigon, age, america, travel,
Form: Couplet
Coffee Lady In Saigon
Every morning I have gone out for Vietnamese coffee At a sidewalk café Down the ally from our AIRBNB The owner is a pleasant middle age woman Who for some reason likes us She smiles at us Greets us in Vietnamese She does not understand English Or Korean And I wonder why Why was there this connection Between us It dawned on me Perhaps in a prior life She...

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Categories: saigon, america, travel,
Form: Couplet
Mastering the Saigon Shuffle
When I first visited Saigon Learning the Saigon Shuffle Was difficult And now 24 years later It all seems to be coming back There is an art to crossing the street Dodging the motor cyclists, the taxis, the private cars The bikes and other pedestrians and the buses The art consists of letting the big guys go first Then walk between the motorcycles...

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Categories: saigon, america, travel,
Form: Free verse
Old Ghosts In Saigon
Old ghosts wandering the streets of old Saigon Lost spirits of the dead Died during the endless wars Ghostly apparitions around every corner Here was Kilroy and his gang of soldiers Over there were the Viet Cong Waiting to kill them Saigon is filled with memories like that Terrible times were had here in Old Saigon Silently the ghosts parade the...

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Categories: saigon, america, travel, visionary, war,
Form: Quatrain
Saigon Cinnamon
You are something Beyond classification or description. Something sensory. Something Warm, sweet, Rich, dark, Smoke and fire, Softened spice, Sugared rust, Dusted copper, Wood, bark, Like you grew from the ground Or were mined from the red earth. Just like Saigon Cinnamon....

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Categories: saigon, analogy, love,
Form: Free verse
Premium Member Girl of Saigon - the Morning After
GIRL OF SAIGON - THE MORNING AFTER You are the night and morning after. Sunrise is playing in your hair, I swear your eyes are telling me lies, I know you kill but I don't care. Out in the bush, I'd recognize your look of death staring at me, to soon to show the hate in your eyes, and I would end your...

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Categories: saigon, betrayal, hate, war,
Form: Lyric
Premium Member Girl of Saigon
GIRL OF SAIGON I've seen death every day in a tropical rain, I could tell you about it, but I can't take the pain. There's a path through the bush it's all tainted and red, from the blood of believers, who were right in their head. I've killed fathers and sons, never blinking an eye, and I've looked in the eyes...

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Categories: saigon, abuse, america, soldier, veterans
Form: Lyric
Premium Member Girl of Saigon
GIRL OF SAIGON I've seen death every day in a tropical rain, I could tell you about it, but I can't take the pain. There's a path through the bush it's all tainted and red, from the blood of believers, who were right in their head. I've killed fathers and sons, never blinking an eye, and I've looked in the eyes...

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Categories: saigon, children, mother, parents, war,
Form: Free verse

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Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry