New poetry by Larry K. peace poet
just another massacre
February 1, 1968
we were securing 15s (engineers)
on the road to the Oasis
as they cleared it of mines
there was radio report of rocket sites near us
so we went to take a look
we spotted some movement
in the bushes off the trail
and surrounded
a bunch of Yards, men and women
(French named mountain people now
but fishers before the Chinese came south
over a thousand years ago)
moving through the area
some of the men had canteens and suspicious webbing belts
we were searching them when a call came in
a chopper had small arms ground contact
about 600 meters north of us
we left the Montagnards we were searching
and went to investigate
using our APCs to knock down trees and brush
(stoned we pictured ourselves in some movie
leaping like a large cat over the land)
we cut an LZ for a reactionary squad
(Aero-rifle platoon from the O)
we had opened up with our .50 caliber machine guns
(bullets longer than my middle finger
in some martial fuck you)
although there was a question
of whether we had been fired upon
when the shit was over
we had captured 100 and killed 65
(later adjustment of body count said
we had killed 110 and captured 140-
139 of whom absolutely confirmed VC/NVA)
in the midst of this shooting shit
I threw a track from my APC
the driver gets to fix such breakdowns
I kept waiting to get shot
although I didn’t hear any rounds near me
I killed some by running over them
which caused the track to come off
(the smell and the body parts confirmed this)
February 2, 1968
we swept the area again
February 4, 1968
we went back with bulldozers to bury
the bodies.
1968
I lost 1968
somewhere in the hot and moist jungles
of the central highlands of Vietnam
when I wasn’t paying attention
- Edgar came out of his closet
long enough to murder and jail
young black leaders
who caused his scrotum to shrivel
afraid that someone might learn that he was
passing as white himself
his FBI assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee
on the second floor balcony of room 306 at the Lorraine Motel
so that a black messiah would not lead to the mountain top
after civil rights christianity unexpectedly demanded justice
rebellions in 125 American cities put down
by 69,000 US military troops with 46 citizens killed
details of My Lai massacre by US troops
published in French language magazine Sud Vietnam en Lutte
Robert Kennedy announced his candidacy for President
with strong anti-Vietnam War platform
the CIA killed Robert Kennedy on television
at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles
LBJ allowed Nixon to commit treason
for the good of the 4.378 billion people
who were waiting to die
or for the revolution to be televised
LBJ announces on television that he
“will neither seek, nor accept” nomination for President
16 year old Bobby Hutton the first and the youngest
Black Panther Party Member to be murdered
by the Oakland Police Department
American medalists Tommie Smith and John Carlos
raised their fists during the National Anthem
at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City
Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon
American Indian Movement formed in Minneapolis
to address issues of Indian sovereignty
the Democratic Party elite was laid bare
the streets of Chicago saw riots and bloodshed
involving protesters, police and bystanders
when I returned to the world in 1969
it was a whole different thing
Afghanistan haiku
snow on the mountain
blood on the children in the snow
all sides claim victory