Sleepy Boy

Offspring prisoners of Agent Orange

He is somewhere in middle

age in my memory of him.

Where are you sleepy boy?

Among the vapors that still live in my soul

marching in the hallowed hall

 in the dark side of my being?

Or among the living in someone's imagination

seeking a way out of the Agent Orange locked cell?

A long time ago my seed of you died in Vietnam

I am no longer the man I once was.

Can you ever forgive me for not giving you life,

my love and the joys and sorrows

that a father and son share?

Can you?

Reviews

[Alfred Kukitz]

Thanks Jacobs! I think it was the day we did a sweep of a village. I walked in some a pool of water up to my waist. The village shows signs of defoliant.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this reminds me of "jacob's ladder"---

even those who made it through tours in Viet Nam....many are still prisoners because of Agent Orange...so many of my friends came back different...they will never be whole again..

and with their kids? something will always not be there...something missing that they otherwise could have give to them.