My Vietnam Journal post from April 1970 doesn't particularly show that I have poetry writing talent, but it does indicate that I tried! I agreed with myself, after a serious argument, in which I lost, to go ahead and post these on my blog:

The Young Years:

I sit cross-legged among the white spring flowers
Growing outside our age-old house.
Too young to realize it needs paint
And patches on the roof to keep it from leaking when it rains.
The tin roof, above the kitchen
Where my mother is busy cooking
Over a wood-burning stove
Is rusty and sags to one side.
The chimney is cracked and falling in at the top
I'm too young to be aware of these things
I only know my feather bed is soft and warm
When the nights get cold.
My interest lies only
With the piece of soft White Pine I'm whittling on.
I'm not carving anything
I don't even know what carving is!
I'm only watching the shavings pile up
I can hear the wind whistling
Through the pine trees on the west forty.
I can hear the chickens
Scratching around in the dirt for bugs
And the singing of birds in the trees.
I can see the honeybees
Going from flower to flower
Then flying away again.
I was at peace with myself
Until I cut my hand
And saw that I was bleeding.

Sadness on the Front:

Clad only in briefs
I lay on a simple bunk
In a simple, cluttered room.
The cool breeze of a fan
Blows across my half-sleeping form.
The noises from jet engines and machine guns
Keep me from a peaceful sleep.
There's a war going on
But I am dreaming now.
In my semi-conscious state
I call her name...
She does not answer
Why can't she hear me?
I see her standing right there!
I reach out to take her hand
But she's not there.
Where did she go?
I toss and turn.
All of a sudden I find her;
She's lying beside me.
From the light of the moon
I can see her eyes
Soft and warm upon mine
Her long hair lies tangled
On the white pillow.
I touch her skin and it feels cool
To my warm hand.
She's beautiful
Her lips are sweet and moist
And the alarm clock shatters the early dawn.
It's another day in Vietnam....