"Saturday Night" ~Dusty


           
Saturday night
          Oldies night
          on AFVN
          Letter-writing night
          Toenail-painting night
          Fantasy-spinning night
          
          Watching the geckoes
          dancing across the wall
          like-poled magnets 
          maintaining measured distance
          Buddy Holly and
          bubble-gum rock
          recall high school and home
          
          Rainy season mildew
          smells like Houston
          Rain on the roof
          at 80 drops per minute
          like lactated Ringer's
          clear and steady
          unlike me
          
          Silence shattered
          by artillery boys
          across the road
          playing with guns
          No dates tonight
          for these teen warriors
          firing H&I

          "Harassment and interdiction"--
          harassing only my rest
          interdicting only my dreams
          
          I turn up the radio
          and pray for peace


©1991 by Dusty (Written in 1967 in Vietnam.)
Originally appeared in Visions of War, Dreams of Peace, Warner Books, 1991.
Eds. Lynda Van Devanter and Joan Furey.

 

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My Vietnam Related Websites:
buttonWomen in Vietnam ~ Not only nurses served . . .
button Dusty's Home Page ~ Poetry and prose by a woman who was a nurse in Vietnam
button Emily's Poetry ~ By a Red Cross Donut Dolly
button Battle Dressing ~ The Journey of a Nurse in Vietnam
button Tim O'Brien's Home Page ~ National Book Award Winner and Americal Vet
button Shrapnel in the Heart ~ The most moving book you will read on Vietnam
button The Irish on the Wall ~ An effort to locate the Irish who died in Vietnam
button Project Hearts and Minds ~ Help put Viet Nam back together
button All About Vietnam   ~ An annotated bibliography of books about Vietnam for sale thru Amazon Worldwide!
button Photos from a Holts' Military History Tour ~ My trip to Vietnam, February 1998
button 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

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Page last updated September 19, 2002