The Trauma of Nam

By skinner_jennifer

Fri, 23 Mar 2012
  • 2570 reads
11 comments
 

Summer love
has gone away...
gazing into the
twilight of youth,

the heat that gave
them humidity; but
cold that left them frigid,

gratitude for some –
hope of memory,
thoughts laced with
regret shot them away
those foolish castaways,

what is it they feel but
remorse, for their sins are
many...a ferocity of shame
came down upon them, like
lava flowing at Pompeii,

how would they have
known what would be,
had their imagination
not given them hope?

drenched in the fuel –
fires would not go out,
those humble servants
of a higher realm...

but gently taking life in both
hands, a savagery of anger
quaked like a bowl of fury,
those that weakened died –

others questioned and survived,
a whirlwind of conflict blowing
their time away – cold winds
keeping their dreams at bay.

Certificate PG
Poem
Poems
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by jolono on
Like this Jenny. I too am fascinated by the Vietnam War and have read quite a bit on the subject. Great line "Like lava flowing at Pompeii"

 

Submitted by Silver Spun Sand on
An impassioned write, Jenny...and the last line:- 'cold winds keeping their dreams at bay'... sent shivers down my spine. Also the line that jolono quotes is inspired, and highly pictorial. Well done on this, Jenny. Tina

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on
I see the confusion of veterans' lives in this. And the loss of hope in Johnson's administration. Vietnam, of all wars, is so confusing for my generation who watched it on TV as kids and then were given the association of all that great music with the terrible tragedy of the whole thing through a rash of Vietnam War films. Well done Jenny. Nicely addressed.

Parson Thru

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
thankyou for reading jolono, hope that the new layout hasn't spoilt the poem for you, just decided it might read better this way. Finding the right words for this poem, didn't come easy for me, but it finally came together after a lot of thought. I'm very grateful for your comment and thankyou again. Jenny.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
Hi Tina, I think this was one of the hardest poems I've ever written, so much emotion went through me as I wrote, it left me quite drained at the end, so I'm really happy that you got so much out of it and that the emotions came out right. Thankyou as always for reading and I hope the new layout, hasn't deterred from what I was trying to say. Jenny.

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
Hi there Parson Thru, your words of encouragement are more than I could wish for, this was definitely a hard piece for me to write, but from reading your comment I feel It came out right. Thankyou so much for reading and letting me know your thoughts. Jenny.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on
Really was my pleasure.

Parson Thru

Submitted by MistakenMagic on
I studied the Vietnam War for my History GCSE, and your poem has taken me back, Jenny! Especially love those final lines :-) Magic xxx

 

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
Hi there Magic, I didn't know the Vietnam War was part of history GCSE, so I've learnt something from you. Thankyou for reading, hope you are well and enjoying the sunshine. Always appreciated your comments. Jenny.xxx

 

Submitted by Highhat on
Living in Sydney during the Vietnam war and Australia being a participant, I was very close to what was happening. I am glad you wrote so passionately about it Jenn. It is a time that is very close to my heart and I am so pleased that the Vietnamese are such a happy people today as is observed by many visitors to the country. It was a very dirty war- not that war is ever anything but bad. I am glad you are so good at looking back in time. You do it well Jenn and I learn every time from you and become more aware and enriched. Thanks! ;)Pia

Submitted by skinner_jennifer on
Thanks for reading this Pia, I really cannot imagine what it was like to have been so close to what was going on. I'm glad that the Vietnamese people are living a lot better now, though I suppose it's like any war, those that lived through it probably still remember the anguish and pain that was around at the time. Let's hope that we can all learn something from these terrible wars and never let it happen again. Your words means more than you could imagine and I hope you are well and enjoying the sunshine. Thanks again. Jenny.