The fog infiltrates from the Pacific,
slithering in below the point,
twining up the gray rock face,
beguiling in its supple silence.
Overrun by stealthy humidity,
Ft. Rosecrans surrenders
without a shot.
The reptile vapor furtively curls
around her scruffy grass-stained sneakers
to flick its tongue at his arched white stone.
Tasting first prideless citations,
it swallows the dates that bracket his life,
tastes the war that unseemly took it;
quickly quaffs both unit and rank
and last consumes his very name.
Her eyes stand empty before her beloved,
lately stolen from her future
as he vanishes yet again.
©1997 by Dusty
Originally appeared in INCOMING!, Issue IV. Hawk's Nest
Publishing, 1997. Ed. Barbara Menghini Whitmarsh.
Return to Dusty's Poetry Index.
Return to Dusty's Home Page
My Vietnam Related Websites:
Women in Vietnam
~ Not only nurses served . . .
Dusty's Home Page
~ Poetry and prose by a woman who was a nurse in Vietnam
Emily's
Poetry ~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
Battle Dressing ~ The Journey of a Nurse in Vietnam
Tim O'Brien's Home Page
~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
Shrapnel in the Heart
~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
The
Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
Project
Hearts and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
All About Vietnam
~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for sale thru Amazon
Worldwide!
Photos from a Holts' Military History Tour
~ My trip to
Vietnam, February 1998
Illinois
Vietnam Women's Memorial ~ Honoring all the Illinois women who served
My Other Websites:
Chicago
Theatre Z - A ~ This is the best theater town in the country!
Writers
Theatre of Chicago ~ And this is the best theater in town
Literature
of the Korean War ~ Don't let the literature be forgotten
Poetry
of the First World War ~ Owen, Hardy and others
Samuel
Pepys ~ One of my favorite authors
Gil
Thorp ~ THE Coach
Maybe
Later . . . ~ My Creative Nonfiction
Chi-COW-go
~ Cowz plus Commentary (this used to be a cow town)
Graham
Fulton, Scottish Poet ~ Charles Manson Auditions for the Monkees
Soccer
Literature ~ I'm a fan and I read
O'Leary
Lantern ~ Fire! Fire! Fire!
Other Important Websites:
PreviewPort.com
~ Connecting Authors and Writers Worldwide
Remember
Oklahoma City ~ Civil Service and Military Employees will never forget
|
United States |
United Kingdom |
|
Germany |
France |
|
|
 |
 |
| Page last updated September 19, 2002 | |