Coffee and Cake, Vietnam, 1966

Went to my cousin's house
to see him
After his one year tour was over
Spring of 1966

He went over as an officer
Having completed college and ROTC
My family and his, in the living room
Watching slides and having coffee and cake

Kind of like a travel log of a distant world
People, customs, villages and soldiers
Seemed kinda benign,  not so bad
Till the whammo, right in our face

Dead bodies, napalm babies, carnage
We all let out a gasp, our suburban world crashing
My cousin said he didn't know those slides were in there
But he didn't apologize, how do you excuse war ?

That night left an indelible mark
I think he wanted us to witness horror
Wars are messy, life is cheap for the repressed
My young teenage eyes, stained and opened