
Poem One: Sour
His game of life is over.
His shirt’s pulled by his head.
He lays upon a gunjeep.
He’s one that we made dead.
____________
In his throat is calling card
tore off of sniper shirt.
So lifeless lays his body
but we still do it dirt.
____________
The patch of our Division
will tell for those who see
that we are mean and deadly
when we meet enemy.
____________
And say we have no feeling
for those that we pull down.
Revel in his death today
and strut and prance around.
____________
Then body’s dropped in Village
at thirty miles per hour.
Pushed off the hood of gunjeep
by boys that have turned sour.
(c) John Steinmeyer
Poem Two: Sealed
War is against everything
that we were taught as kids.
War takes Mother Nature
and sends her on the skids.
___________
Truth and honesty is lost.
Compassion’s buried noon.
Denial is breath today
and we all learn it soon.
____________
Terror swirls in cup to drink
as Death extends a hand.
Loneliness and bitter sleep
as we lay in this land.
_____________
Reason never touch our day
and questions are soon lost.
Buried in our minds this way
are those who pay the cost.
______________
Tears no quake of bitter kids
that stare with lizard eyes.
Sealed and soaked in fractured brain
is war and all its lies.
(C) John Steinmeyer
____________________________
- Other Side
- Sniffer
- The Fish
- L.C, and L.C. 2 –Two gone, waiting for number three
- More to Come
John Steinmeyer served in Vietnam as an Infantry Sergeant with the 9th division in the Mekong Delta, then was transferred to the 25th Division and served the last half of his tour in a sniper team.
Thuy Smith’s father (Vietnam Veteran) and Vietnamese mother along with Thuy were friends of John and his family. This will be the first post of a collection of poems that John wrote of his many experiences during his time in Vietnam. The collection is titled – The Rain. Thuy Smith (TSOI) was given permission to share his poems on all of TSOI’s media platforms, etc.
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