A dream,
Elusive as a wisp
In the breeze.
Floating softly
Across the depths of my mind.
Echoing from
One crevice
To eternity,
And back again,
This time
Even more devastating
Than before.
And then,
It's departure,
As swift as it's arrival,
My love,
My life,
My dream.

-Leigh Livermore, RVN 1970

Recovery

Her I sit in a hospital bed,
Long Binh, Viet Nam,
The 24th med.

Not much of anything really to do,
Just help feed a buddy,
Or read Life, or True.

Nurses are nice, like in the world,
But none can replace,
That one special girl.

It hurts, but I can laugh and walk,
It hurts the guy next to me,
To even try to talk.

I look at these guys, all cut to hell,
And thank God above,
That I'm almost well!

For some of the guys, the future looks dim,
They've got to have courage,
If they figure to win!

Then comes the time and the happy yelp,
He moved his arm,
Without any help!

Then comes the day he leaves the ward,
Thanking nurses and doctors,
But mostly his Lord.

-24th Evac Hospital in July 1970

The sun plays the role of a lover,
As a breeze plays across my back,
And caresses my exposed skin with warmth,
And like my lover,
The sun gives me a feeling of warm,
Deep down inside,
When the caresses are that intimate,
But surely nothing can replace,
That Utopian happiness inspired by her.
No, not even the sun.

Free

One day while I was off at war,
Eating my lunch under a tree,
A butterfly landed on my knee,
And seemed to say,"I'm free! I'm free!"

Now isn't that a quirk of fate,
For an insect as fine as he,
To know that he is forever free,
Much more free than me, than me.

But one fine day his end will come!
That day will not come to me!
At least until I've been through this war,
And home again, free! Home again, free!

-Leigh Livermore, RVN 1970