In the spirit of the recent blog entries encouraging us that any time is the right time to write poetry -- including the very most difficult, troubling times in life, as well as the carefree and sweet -- and another one showing us how, here is one former Marine and Vietnam veteran's poem about the soul-destroying nature of combat, as he now sees it. (Forgiveness - of one's self and others - is a common theme in veterans' poetry, understandably so.)
The author, Larry Winters, is a Vietnam veteran and psychotherapist who served with the Marine Corps in 1969 and 1970. He apparently delivered this poem (meaning, spoke it) on the occasion of a dinner with General Diep and some others, on a return visit to Vietnam. Winters is also the author of The Making and Unmaking of a Marine: One Man's Struggle for Forgiveness, linked here. Here is the poem that he wrote:
If a man kills another man
He must dig two graves
One in the earth for the dead man
One in his heart
for his own spirit
Or he will not return.
Editor's note: An article entitled, "Poems of Pain Help Him Heal War Trauma," about Larry Winters and his work, was published in the Middletown, New York Times Herald-Record on March 19, 2007. The article is linked here.
More importantly, Winter's own website about the book is linked here. Vietnam veterans and others may appreciate how much information, and photographs, Winters has packed into it. It is sure to bring back a lot of memories.
