A collection of poems by Lawrence “Mack in Texas” Hall (PG-13)
Where my Parents were on 29 April 1944
“…and the war will be forgotten…” -Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front
My mother was a young war widow in Kingsville, Texas
Raising a child with no assistance from the state
For her husband was only missing, you see
And a Merchant Marine, and so didn’t count
My father was breeching the gates of Dachau
His tank destroyer was the “Razzle Dazzle”
With a naked lady painted on the side
Among the stench and smoke, the dying, the dead
My father told me that someday there would be people
Who would deny that such things ever were
-Cf. 602nd Tank Destroyer Battalion & SS Muskogee
Some years ago whatever authorities see to such things worked to remedy the neglect of our Merchant Marine widows and so they received some small assistance at last.
Camp Pendleton in Springtime
Field Medical Service School, 1968
There was no warmth in our sleeping bags
Spring rain sluiced down the dark and through our tents
Decaying tents from the Second World War
The Corps would spend no money on tents or us
But we were young, and playing at war was fun
We kept our rifles dry but nothing else
And yarned throughout the cold and soggy nights
Long days and nights mud-fighting the VC
Sometimes an hour or two of soggy sleep
But in my pocket, warm words from my favorite poet
A Right Turn in Viet-Nam
And whether we shall meet again, I know not.
Therefore our everlasting farewell take.
Forever and forever farewell…
If we do meet again, why we shall smile;
If not, why then this parting was well made.
Julius Caesar V.i.125-129
This is not a metaphor for anything
Only a memory of driving an ambulance
A clapped-out relic of the Second World War
On a street on the Tien Sha Peninsula
1969
For a left turn the driver extends his left hand
And waves
It’s okay to wave back, but that’s not the point
For a right turn the driver extends his right hand
And waves
It’s okay to wave back, but that’s not the point
If there’s a passenger, he extends his right hand
And waves
It’s okay to wave back, but that’s not the point
If there are two passengers, the one most to the right…
But you get the point
It’s okay to wave back – that’s the point
A Dodge ambulance, a Vietnamese Army Jeep, and a Renault
Meet at an intersection – and somehow miss each other
And I miss Viet-Nam.
If we do meet again…
