Poetry Vietnam 6

Extract from A Book of Vietnam "War" Poetry


Budweiser and Librium


Today we have BUDS and LIBS
To flush away the hopelessness
Of an infantry company.

Today we have BUDS and LIBS
To force along the faithfulness
Of an infantry company.

The maggots of depression are shooed surreptitiously—seemingly simply—with
powdered drugs and liquid suds pulsating through the blood systems of the foot
soldier specialists.

Let’s listen to them…

“Death Defier, man, oh man,
You’re a crazy motherfucker, man!”

“Go fuck yourself, Big Cock!
John Doe’s fucking your wife back in the real world, shithead!”

“Crusader, how many gooks did you zero today, man?
Hey, man!
You’re a gas with that pee-shooter.
Man oh man!”

“Where’s Security Clad?
Bet he’s jerking off again behind those trees.
That little fuckerooooo!
Hey, man, give me another BUD!”

“Atonement, what you gonna do when we get back to the real world?
Fuck all your boyfriends,
You big fucking shithead!”

THESE NINETEEN-YEAR-OLDS SHOULD BE IN SUMMER CAMP—
NOT ARMY CAMP.


1 March 1997