J
jrhume
Guest
EDIT: I bumped this up from some old threads in current affairs, I had not read it and I enjoyed it so I thought others might also. Bruce
I write a few lines of poetry from time to time and one of the poems I did a couple years ago expressed, as best I could, my feelings about those Canadians who served alongside their US brothers in Vietnam.
Canadians - Brothers in Arms
Draft dodgers went North,
south came our brothers,
to take up the arms,
disdained by the others.
Like us, most were young,
and believed they would live.
when Death and his minions,
sought all they could give.
A hundred or more,
names on the Wall,
carved in black granite,
to help us recall.
? JR Hume, 2000
And here's one with a different slant concerning the reception we got on returning home.
Welcome Home
Hot August day, sixty-eight,
Travis Air Force Base.
Mercy flight from Vietnam,
rolls into it's place.
Home, at last - veterans,
fresh from jungle camp.
Walking wounded first,
step slowly down the ramp.
Demonstrators chant,
torn men wait with pain.
And hide behind blank faces,
soldiers - home again.
Hate and slogans shouted.
Broken faith - broken trust.
Duty made a crime.
Honor ground to dust.
He's waiting at the gate.
Back from war today.
Are the people cheering?
Does the music play?
? JR Hume, 2000
I was feeling a little bitter when I wrote that last one. Putting those feelings into words helped, I think.
You all will have to let me know if an occasional poem is acceptable. About half the poetry I write is Vietnam or military related.
I write a few lines of poetry from time to time and one of the poems I did a couple years ago expressed, as best I could, my feelings about those Canadians who served alongside their US brothers in Vietnam.
Canadians - Brothers in Arms
Draft dodgers went North,
south came our brothers,
to take up the arms,
disdained by the others.
Like us, most were young,
and believed they would live.
when Death and his minions,
sought all they could give.
A hundred or more,
names on the Wall,
carved in black granite,
to help us recall.
? JR Hume, 2000
And here's one with a different slant concerning the reception we got on returning home.
Welcome Home
Hot August day, sixty-eight,
Travis Air Force Base.
Mercy flight from Vietnam,
rolls into it's place.
Home, at last - veterans,
fresh from jungle camp.
Walking wounded first,
step slowly down the ramp.
Demonstrators chant,
torn men wait with pain.
And hide behind blank faces,
soldiers - home again.
Hate and slogans shouted.
Broken faith - broken trust.
Duty made a crime.
Honor ground to dust.
He's waiting at the gate.
Back from war today.
Are the people cheering?
Does the music play?
? JR Hume, 2000
I was feeling a little bitter when I wrote that last one. Putting those feelings into words helped, I think.
You all will have to let me know if an occasional poem is acceptable. About half the poetry I write is Vietnam or military related.