There are 350,000 tons
of live bombs and mines
still remaining in Vietnam
they are waiting
biding their time
More than 100,000
Vietnamese have been killed
or injured since America left
18,000,000 gallons of
defoliants were sprayed in
20,000 missions in-country
Because of my exposure to
Agent Orange Uncle Sam
pays me $700 a month
and I’m waiting
biding my time
Bill McCloud is a poetry editor for the Right Hand Pointing literary journal and is the poetry reviewer for Vietnam Veterans of America. His poetry book, The Smell of the Light, reached #1 on The Oklahoman’s “Oklahoma Bestsellers List." His poems have appeared in Oklahoma Today and the Oklahoma English Journal. He is a faculty member of William Bernhardt’s annual WriterCon, presenting sessions on writing and publishing poetry.
