VIETNAM SOLDIER (poem, 4-3-70)

Must the young soldier die,

Without really knowing why?

Must his widow weep,

From thoughts of his mined jeep?

Must the soldier’s father shout,

That the general was a lout.

Must the soldier’s mother stare

At a boy who is not there?

Must the soldier’s brother wait,

For the Draft to call his fate?

Must the boy’s sister say,

“I’ll miss him every day.”

Must the soldier’s uncle wonder,

How America got into this blunder?

Must the soldier’s aunt surmise,

In the closed coffin, what shape lies?

Must the soldier’s cousins run

From what the war had done?

Tomorrow is a new day.

Will we find a new way?

Or continue to kill and maim,

While camouflaging our shame

Over the trade of a Purple Heart,

For one human life – blown apart.