Tag Archives: Vietnam

Poetry, Writing

From the Dust of the Ground

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(Poem 283 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

“Then Yahweh Elohim formed humans from the dust of the ground and breathed into the nostrils the breath of life; and humans became living beings.” Genesis 2:7

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/MlsaGg

The Mongolian god
Ulgen created the first man
from clay floating on the water.

The Bornean bird spirits
Ara and Irik used clay
and the sound of their voices.

In Ijaw tradition,
Woyengi fashioned humans
from earth
that fell from the sky.

Wonder Woman was sculpted
from clay by Hippolyta.

The goddess Aruru
created humans out of clay
according to the Epic of Gilgamesh.

And in the Korean Seng-gut,
humans are made from red clay.

The Chinese Nüwa
molded figures
from the yellow earth.

Vietnamese tales describe
Ngọc Hoàng and the Twelve Bà mụ
making people from clay.

The Qur’an, Torah, and Christian Bible 
say Yahweh and his angels
fashioned humans from dust
in their image.

@Home Studio – 283rd poem of the year

Bible Hub. Lexicon, Genesis 2:7, https://biblehub.com/lexicon/genesis/2-7.htm

Runner ups for the Clay Man photos to accompany my poem:

Poetry, Writing

The Women

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(Poem 199 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

AI Generated image I prompted on Gencraft.com https://gencraft.ai/p/hls2hj https://gencraft.ai/p/DO4ZyC

10,000 American military women
served in Vietnam and risked their
lives right alongside the boys sent
to die in the boonies and crash in
the Hueys and swelter in country.
Doctors, nurses, air traffic control,
intelligence, not to mention the
civilian women who were news
correspondents, or worked for the
USO, Red Cross, Special Services,
Donut Dollies, the list goes on…
witnessed the atrocities of war,
the wounds that have yet to heal,
the loss of limb, life, sanity, and
humanity that stole the future of
so many who perished there in the
jungles or continued their descent
to despair for years to come thanks
to Agent Orange, depression, Hep-C,
cancer, and a big giant dose of PTSD.
And then they were welcomed home
by jeers, protests, being spit on and
insulted, reviled for their sacrifices,
and despised for their acts of service.
They were lied to and lied about, but
mostly they lied to themselves to
survive each day; how else could
they believe that all would be well,
and unfortunate sons and daughters
would get together and be alright?

@Home Studio – 199th poem of the year  (After reading The Women by Kristin Hannah.)

Hannah, Kristin. The Women. St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2024.

Runner ups for the Vietnam photos to accompany my poem:

Fiction, Poetry, Writing

Across the Universe

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(Poem 89 for 2024 – I am writing a poem a day)

Actors (clockwise from top C) Martin Luther McCoy, Dana Fuchs, T.V. Carpio, Ekaterina Sknavina, Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Kiva Dawson, Joe Anderson and Halley Wegryn Gross are shown in a scene from the film “Across The Universe” in this undated publicity photograph. https://images.app.goo.gl/VGx3qPKwxrQnu3xp6

i’m just a Girl standing here
wanting you to Hold Me Tight
so i can give you All My Loving.
I Want to Hold Your Hand.
though i endure tough times
With a Little Help From my Friends,
It Won’t Be Long before i need
more than they can give, but
I’ve Just Seen a Face that i can never
forget, and that is saying a lot for me.
i pray that god will Let It Be our
destiny that we will Come Together
forever, and if we ever get married,
Why Don’t We Do It in the Rain?
If I Fell, would you catch me?
I Want You to be the one who
always catches me, not the one
who says, “She’s So Heavy”, and
shirks the hard parts of love.
Dear Prudence will be our saving
grace, for our future will never
lack with us in it. we’ll be Flying
high the Blue Jay Way over the
rainbow and off to neverland
where I Am the Walrus and you are
the Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite
because you make my heart soar.
Something you said to me changed
my perspective forever, Oh! Darling.
you loved me as i was, freckles and
paleness, green-eyed simplicity, and
Strawberry Fields Forever.
it was a Revolution to be loved for
myself and celebrated for my curves.
you love me when i suffer,
and While My Guitar Gently Weeps,
you hold and comfort me, transporting
my grief Across the Universe.
you love me when my anger has
turned our world Helter Skelter and i
have forgotten Happiness
is a Warm Gun aimed at a Blackbird
the only way to handle strife?
no, you have shown me that
it’s ok to walk away, to pause,
to let things simmer down, then say Hey
Jude-iciously discuss our differences.
Don’t Let Me Down, my love.
don’t ever become someone other
than who you are. whoever said,
All You Need Is Love, never got a divorce.
you also need the right person, a
person who makes you feel like
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
when things are rough and you feel like
lana in the dirt with slime.

@Home Studio – 89th poem of the year

Todd, Suzanne., et al. Across the Universe Widescreen., Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2009.