Welcome Home Johnny

a vietnam tribute

Johnny
did you know
when you went into
your dirty little
room
when you lit that
cigarette
it would be your
last

did you know that the
years of
agent-orange cancer
wasting were
finally over
no more flashbacks
to that war
the medals couldn’t
heal
no more crying over
being forgotten
no more begging at the
liquor store for chump change
and squares
no more sucking cocks and getting
ass fucked
behind cho’s mini-mart
or bottles of
“mad dog”
to drink the pain
away

when you laid your head
against the wall
did you know
did you look at
the leg
the army surgeons
took from you
a few inches at a
time
till only a stump of
boneless flesh
dangled next to the
raw skin of your
balls
did you look at it
and breath a sigh of
relief
no more scalpels
no more hushed whispers in
hospital halls
no more hopeless looks
from shamans
priests and
old girlfriends

as the last hit of your
life escaped your
lungs
did you see the light
did angels circle your
head
singing praises and ushering
the peace
you never had

I only wonder
as I look at your
body
having found you
3 days dead
in a pile
bed clothes
never asking
why
two inch ash still
clinging to the cigarette
between your
fingers
you belly would be
bloated
if you were larger than
the ninety pounds

hidden in the dirty
clothes you could never
keep clean
your face
like leather
mummified
betrays no pain
no call for help
no desire
to stop this
death
did you know
I only wonder
because you look
like you just don’t
care

J. Masuda © 2004
art
161 views 0 replies