Author Information
1. Slaughtered Lamb
Folder:
Vietnam Series What the hell is going on?
I just want to live.
What have I gotten
That I should be expected to give?
I can't even chose,
Not even old enough to vote
Yet old enough to die.
Why should I have to go?
I do have family;
A mom and a dad who I love,
And a younger sister too.
Who will she have above?
What is truely the point?
This war will have no end!
We won't be able to win,
Just die, time and again.
What the hell do you expect of me,
To leave knowing I'll never return?
Dieing for a cause i could never believe in?
All shot up and mangled, menaced and burned?
That could simply never be me,
That just isn't who I am.
I tell you i'd rather be red then dead,
But i have no choice, I'm the slaughtered lamb.
Brings back memories of some trying times. I volunteered twice for Nam but never went. some would say I was lucky.
They are probably right.
Well, the point here is well taken. The draft, being what it was, was a mockery. It was totally unfair and applied to the lower income bracket with devastating effects.
The poem itself shows depth of emotion and a certain view of the inequity from a higher point of view.
I think as verse it flows well, though I did notice some spelling errors. Chose should be choose. Dieing is dying.
Also crack is modern manifestation of cocaine. This usage throws the chronological aspect of the event out of whack.
You might select opium or morphine.
All in all it comes across as a vivid rant, definitely in keeping with the protestations of the time. Tim
Clay,
It is just amazing that you can put yourself that deeply and truely. It is so realistic! I love you!
Case