Poems Written while Confined

1 January 2020

Memories and the passage of time makes
me think of the last call I guard the
perimeter wall
made of barbed wire and dirt.
I sat on the bunker all night with my loaded M16
near and in sight ...
flak jacket on and steel helmet too.
Flares dropped from from choppers above to
illuminate the night sky.
In the morning off the bunker for the last time.
The last year ended ... the new year arrived.
For that past year ... I survived.

Phouc Vinh Dec 31, 1969  Jan 1, 1970