The Unknown
War Remnants Museum
Saigon, Viet Nam
I fell in love with your picture -
those eyes so pale
pallid scruff of mud-streaked beard
cigarette idle
taste of blood gone stale.
But it's there in your eyes - that fear
drowning in memory
It's there in your eyes
dreading the life you can't see
Your face turns to work -
mortar rocks the shores
hateful weapons clutched in hand
cigarette fallen -
taste of blood ignored
You jump to your guns -
prayers unfurled
battered helmet strapped too tight
heartbeat pounding
slicing bullet unheard
But it's there in your eyes - that fear
truth from a heart undone
It's there in your eyes
dreading the end that will come
I fell in love with your picture
must return to reality
but it's there in those eyes
and now they haunt mine -
the pain of memory
© Wendy Allen 2004
