I Guess That's It (In The 'Nam)

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind. - Friedrich Nietzsche

in the still of the humid night

it was time for a good, stiff drink

no matter what you think

it was do or die

tobacco juice fell like napalm from the sky

dogtags are made of stainless metal

moonshine comes from a kettle

be careful where you spit

careful where you sit

careful what you knit

ever watchful of what you hit

make sure your tatoos fit

play your mandolin with grit

wear your boots like a catchers mitt

watch out for slithering snakes and stray bullets

keep your head down

guard your mess kit

and always remember that, "charlie can't surf"

i guess that's it

Author's Note

"I had previously seen the snakes in frosty mornings in my path with portions of their bodies still numb and inflexible, waiting for the sun to thaw them." - Thoreau

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

snakes and stray bullets...both slither, both are deadly...
you give us such a vivid feeling in this poem of what it was like for soldiers in Viet Nam...
what they dealt with...I had friends who came home from there...never the same...those snakes
never go away...they slither into sleep and dreams.
j.

[Re-Pete]

so sorry for your friends who had to go through that. such an experience would change anyone. never knowing what awaited you around the next turn. my father had a cousin who came back from wwii and lived out the rest of his life in a va hospital - never could get over what he saw and experienced . senseless destruction, war is such a sick atrocity ... :)

[Chris Shaw]

Snakes and stray bullets. You create a scene here Pete, of what soldiers had to deal with in their everyday living during Vietnam. That hell hole with all its death, destruction and vileness. They had to do it. They had no choice and I for one won't forget that. Many of them never got over what they had been involved in. War is evil.

Chris

[Re-Pete]

is so true that war is hell as they say. can't fathom going through such a thing. breaks my heart - senseless destruction, loss both inside and out. who does one deal with or get over such a thing? and you point out that they had no choice (being forced to be there, what a double whammy). thanks for remembering and understanding chris. peace ... :)

[Cherrie]

2 of my 3 brothers were there. Terrible days that stained a generation. Excellent poem.

[Re-Pete]

2 of your 3 brothers, wow. i can't even begin to imagine the stress that can put on a family in addition to that of the ones who were there - a nightmare i wouldn't wish on an anyone. thanks for sharing cherrie ... :)

[John the Baptist]

As my reserve unit was never called up, I did not get to see Viet Nam, one of the things that makes me thankful for the pain I've been spared. This offering, from what I've heard, gives a thumbnail observation of what life must have been like there. Charlie might not have been able to surf, but his sappers could sure as hell get under the wire.

[Re-Pete]

i was near the end of marine corps boot camp in '83 on my way to becoming a reservist when they called us all into a room and told us that 220 marines had been killed in a terrorist attack in beirut and that, "we should get ready to go there". fortunately we didn't go but i spent the those last few weeks praying and talking to god a lot. good share j the b ... :)

[lightsong]

are we reading about a soldier in a battlefield, or are we reading about a warrior in life itself? both can be, and here I am back to when I first watched The Thin Red Line, I was a teenager and for few days I have been swept strongly into the ambiance of the movie, I didn't only cried Witt, I also lived him... I don't remember all the details now but I do remember this scene into my heart when Witt plays with the river water with children around him. I don't think those minds which live for blood will ever change, exactly as the morning snakes. unfortunately in a battlefield your mind must be free from anything, prevented too but from one thing. win or lose. live or die.

[Re-Pete]

very astute. you're reading about both - can be taken literally or figuratively as a metaphor for life. i wrote this thinking about how stupid and senseless war is and how we all fight different wars and battles within ourselves and use different means as ammunition - some people use alcohol or drugs for example. as i was finishing this write i remembered a scene in the vietnam movie 'apocalypse now' where robert duval says, "i love the smell of napalm in the morning, smells like ... victory". he then has one of his soldiers who happens to be a surfer go out into the water and he says, "charlie (a pseudoname for the viet cong) can't surf". there's another vietnam movie 'platoon' where charlie sheen says, "I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. And the enemy was in us." adam and eve were duped by the devil in the form of a crafty, lying, deceptive snake. thank you so much for sharing thoughts and for such a great in-depth review ... :)

[lightsong]

You are most welcome dear Pete, You already know how I adore your poetry and appreciate its sheer brilliance, war is something existed since ever and still ongoing let it be hidden or not, inside us or outside, in this physical world or in the spiritual one, but the most important one is the one which is going in our inner, Sheen was right, we are our worst enemies, if we win inside us, no matter what kind of wars going around us we are winners. I believe to kill fear and have faith that's all it's needed.

Good happy morning with no wars only peace :)

[lightsong]

BTW, funny that You mentioned Adam and Eve because yesterday I came across this,

https://www.writerscafe.org/writing/Crosby/2777235/

[mattavelli]

Hello, Pete! :)
Nietzsche should feel honored to supplant Thoreau there. Haha
I really liked the first section of this one. "tobacco juice fell like napalm from the sky" - thats a great line. I'm thinking, in the hot jungle, really, a gin & tonic would be refreshing. Ive recently learned that that drink came from soldiers in another part of the world mixing their malaria medication with gin. Where there's a will, there's a way. Haha

[Re-Pete]

you're very observant, it is indeed not very often that thoreau is supplanted by someone else in my descriptions and notes. interesting factoid you share about the gin and tonic. i would not want to be caught up in a war - i have no desire to kill anyone or be killed myself for someone else's agenda. solutions can be reached to disagreements if both parties are reasonable. violence is such a waste and a disgrace. thanks for the great share mattavelli ... :)