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VIETNAM.........1968





My heart races and I attempt to concentrate

forgetting many comrades left behind

fathers, brothers, sons, uncles

My eyes are wide open and all I can see is

misery, pain, despair, death right before me

crimson paint splatters foreign soil

before these eyes

like imported trades that a poor

country purchases

My heart races as the rifle trembles with fear

undergoing intense combat in a

land where you and I simply don't belong

humming those same ol tunes

that Nixon once promised

within the confines of our own

unnecessary business

for fuckin around in others affairs





My eyes see the images of faces with hidden fear

and the bodies of friends who I shared beers with

the blood of our fallen brothers

flowed through the land like streams

The enemy lurks with bloodthirsty

predatory intentions.....

I can't believe I signed up for this shit

this relentless death sentence

maybe to make a difference

or make my old man proud

doesn't really matter, though

I'm branded as prisoner of war

and prisoner back at home

for this unwilling enslavement

because no one here is free

trapped because of political isolation

trapped because of world complications





My beloved government stands above all

trying to correct the impossible

hoping to God that this tour is a short one

My eyes see through the napalm filled skies

There are no winners in this game

the breath of ignorance spreads the flame

for every 5 who passes, they compile an army of men

rows of ten...to see who comes out in the end

A fierce question drills in my brain

Is sacrificing innocents for a friend a sin?

Should I fall down and die by guilt?

instead of the war's violent quilt?

I'm just a nigger with a gun emotionally shunned

The moral of my story is failure

realizing we are our only fear

when it's the end of life of a young soldier's career

Does the government really shed a tear?