Download PDF of this full issue: v14n4.pdf (8.4 MB)

Poems

By VVAW

Poems

HIS EYES

His Eyes Were Meant To See
Do not try to take my son
To kill him on your battlefields.
And do not test a Mother's fighting rage,
I warn you here and warn you now;
My wrath do not engage.
You've taken all I wish to give;
My husband's lived your pain.
Do not attempt to draft my boy,
What is mine, I shall retain.
You shant use war to thin the heard,
To rob us of our young.
This Mother's tears shall not be shed,
Nor my apron strings unstrung.
Take the boys whose Fathers lead,
The sons of those who rule;
Perhaps if they were sent to die,
There would be no wars at all.
But dare you not to take my son,
He breathes a part of me,
His limbs are fine just as they are,
His eyes were meant to see.

—Rena Kopystenski

LET'S

Let's take them out of malt shops
And send them off to war
Let's spray them all with poison
And make them sick and sore
Let's bring them home all broken
And teach them to feel shame
Let's send them all on guilt trips
And convince them they're to blame
Let's tell them they need schooling
And destroy their GI Bill
Let's tell them to have children
And deny that something's wrong
Let's make believe they're lying
And pretend their kids are strong
Let's disclaim Agent Orange
And all the harm its done.
Let's watch them raise their children
And then start it all once more
Let's wait until they come of age
Hello--El Salvador!!!

—Rena Kopystenski

"NURSE"

I don't go off to war;
So they say,
I'm a woman.
Who then
Has worn by boots?
And whose memories are these,
Of youths suffering? Of
Blood and burns, of their
Tears and their cries?
I'm a woman
And I've tasted man's war.
Our war. And
He knows that I
Love him in
No greater way
Than to share in his life
Or his death.
What are the rules?
Man or woman,
We are prey
To suffer and survive together.
Please don't forget men.
I've been through war's hell
And if only you will listen,
I've a story
Of those chosen
To sacrifice for us all.

This poem, written by Diane Carlson Evans, expresses the heart of the Vietnam Nurses Memorial project. In order to recognize the sacrifice and efforts of Vietnam nurses, to pay tribute to them as vets and to raise public awareness of women who served in Vietnam, the Nurses Project commissioned Rodger Brodin, a Minnesota sculptor, to create three small and one large statue. For more information or to contribute to this effort, contact:

Vietnam Nurses Memorial Project, Inc.
511 Eleventh Avenue South
Box 45
Minneapolis, MN 55415