Mariann G. Wizard : Ft. Holabird Haiku

Still life of toy soldiers. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, Jan 01, 1937 / Time and Life Pictures / Getty Images


Ft. Holabird Haiku

See the soldiers, row on row,
green leaves on trees —
beware defoliant!

Vietnam had soldiers too,
green boys in trees
whose limbs are now burnt black.

In the spring their leaves renew;
people’s roots bring
fresh life to scarred branches.

Mariann G. Wizard
Pacific Grove, CA, 1970

Posted Veterans Day, 2009 / The Rag Blog

Wizard Sez: “For a non-profit group to support this Veterans Day you may not know about yet, check out the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief & Responsibility Campaign. Help veterans here and civilians in Vietnam — including children — still suffering the aftereffects of US defoliation chemicals.”

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3 Responses to Mariann G. Wizard : Ft. Holabird Haiku

  1. Anonymous says:

    Beautiful, and timeless.

    – LP

  2. Mariann says:

    Larry — thanks, but of course it makes me very sad to think that this little poem would be timeless. I would far rather be remembered for love songs and comedy; would far rather that none of the references in this poem were any longer comprehensible to the young, that it was all nonsensical gibberish.

    btw, people who missed our KO-OP radio Rag Show on poetry can now click on the mp3 file on my website to listen at their leisure.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Poetry fades in the face of atrocities….

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