Vietnam Revisited
(after a photograph depicting the lush beauty of Vietnam today)
by Michael Escoubas

It wasn’t always like this, you know.
How different it was then
for men wearing army green fatigues.
The tragic loss of life rampant
on both sides in a hot war
fought in rice paddies, in jungles,
in the hearts of men broken,
in the hearts of families broken,
in the hearts of nations broken.

But the lushness of this scene,
(the beauty of the land,
hillsides green and viral, purple
mountains and valleys resting
in peace) seems to sigh in relief.
A gentle mist pervades the valley.
A small cottage nestles
beside the road. A pagoda sits
atop a hill embraced by grass.

It is as if the land itself
knows that things are different now.
Where are the soldiers?
Where are the search and destroy platoons?
Where are the helicopter gunships?
Where, at last, has the hatred gone?



Author’s Note: During September of 1969, 278 Americans, 847 South Vietnamese,
and 4,652 enemy soldiers lost their lives.
Source: Wikipedia



 

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