P.T.S. FROM VIETNAM
©1997
by Dolly Juhlin
This poem is for all Viet Nam Veterans
Some memories scream with silence
Some appear as soaked in blood
Some echo like the suction
Of feet trudging through the mud
Some ricochet like gun shots
Inside their tired heads
Most are stained with sweat and tears
Of the patriots who bled
People vainly try fix them
With fancy talk and pills
They think they have the answers
But nothing cures these ills
Booze is not the antidote
Though many pour it down
It's just another nightmare
In which you're sure to drown
Angry words are all they know
These men who once were kind
How did they come to be transformed
What twisted in their minds
So many men have missing parts
Like hearts and souls or limbs
Most want to exit from the depths
Of the dismal hell they're in
But failure haunts them like a ghost
Like a reoccurring dream
Does no one see them dying
Can no one hear their screams
Another piece of shrapnel
Oozing from their flesh
Just like the memories in their minds
Always painful, just as fresh
Sleep never calms, no peace exists
It just goes on and on
Memories clear and vivid
Of that war in Vietnam
Some live in prisons with steel bars
Others shackled in their mind
Love can't heal, though some have tried
Broken hearts get lost in time
The horror doesn't go away
Of things they've done and seen
Why doesn't God erase it all
And end the living dreams
Some wander aimlessly alone
Not caring anymore
Their minds are far away it seems
Locked on a foreign shore
Thoughts of peace provoke them
They fear it's gone forever
They covet those who have it all
An illusive dream to treasure
What is hope, it hurts, not helps
It's too hard to try again
No one knows how sad it is
To live at this bitter end
Hate lives and festers daily
Some try to keep it covered
Try as they will, it doesn't work
Some memories can't be smothered
Why are they living in this shell
What's the use of trying
When they can still hear sobs of grief
Of buddies who were dying
Is time the all-time healer
Will memories lessen with the years
But what about the price they paid
And who will dry their tears
Years of life have slipped on by
Moments swallowed up by time
Families broken up in bits
Friends of yours and mine
No, there really is no answer
People slip between the cracks
We must accept the fate we're dealt
Since no one ever can go back
They gave their all, and that's enough
People cannot understand
These guys owe no apologies
For time they spent in 'Nam.
No one knows what they have lived
With their backs against the wall
Confronted with true terror
They just answered duty's call
Post traumatic stress they say
Makes life hard to recover
The healing comes in different ways
For each of our lost brothers
So cut these guys a little slack
Send them a prayer or two
But for the grace of God, you could
Be walking in their shoes
-7/23/97-