virtuoso
11-12-2013, 12:10 PM
From the free-basing, 1960's fields
to the rice paddies of South Asia
tolerant minds into poppy heaven
stressed bodies seek euphoric highs
opium, barbiturates, alcohol to numb
the pain, recreation turns into addiction
a longing to escape the reality swells
into a perennial daze
At war's end, recycled to native soil,
purged of the physical rigors, but
with stained psyche, addicted mind
bereaved of families, who could not
understand, forsaken by their
countrymen, who were ready to
forget and move on
No rehab or therapy to calm
stricken nerves, no job training
programs a livelihood to engender
Bleary vestiges of shadowy Vietnam
morph into the trappings of urban decay;
green fatigues fading into second
hand rags, dog tags traded for
mission crosses, helmets for pawned
baseball caps, tidy barracks exchanged
for wooden crates scattered around
steam vents, Agent Orange clouds
devolving into urban smog-vapor,
trained, sniper bullets swapped for
random, criminal volleys
to the rice paddies of South Asia
tolerant minds into poppy heaven
stressed bodies seek euphoric highs
opium, barbiturates, alcohol to numb
the pain, recreation turns into addiction
a longing to escape the reality swells
into a perennial daze
At war's end, recycled to native soil,
purged of the physical rigors, but
with stained psyche, addicted mind
bereaved of families, who could not
understand, forsaken by their
countrymen, who were ready to
forget and move on
No rehab or therapy to calm
stricken nerves, no job training
programs a livelihood to engender
Bleary vestiges of shadowy Vietnam
morph into the trappings of urban decay;
green fatigues fading into second
hand rags, dog tags traded for
mission crosses, helmets for pawned
baseball caps, tidy barracks exchanged
for wooden crates scattered around
steam vents, Agent Orange clouds
devolving into urban smog-vapor,
trained, sniper bullets swapped for
random, criminal volleys