Team 95

the ground was hard
walking softly
inside the wire at Team 95
near Bien Hoi outside Saigon
at the very moment you took a dive
from the high board
checking your watch for the correct time
while i worried about a friend of mine
you didn't know him
slicing through the water of your pool
i know you thought you were so damn cool
our fire mission was over
now the radio chatter
started to really matter
as i was walking past the wall
of sandbags stacked old and tall
near the cement bunker
near my sack
where i would sleep
occasionally not often deep
i know you thought my life was thin
but wait, it fades
i could hear the thump of blades
far at first but closer the sound
i didn't have to turn around
my chopper pad was near the watch tower
your practice session lasted only one hour
and then you were soaked in the locker room
soaked like a champagne groom
soaked like a sponge in an evening shower
inadvertently dropped and full of itself
i felt the rotor wash
pieces of flying dirt
you never hurt
rushing to class
round eyed girls and more
i on the other hand at war
didn't have your chance to swim
i played a game of numbers
how many KIA or MIA or AWOL
or Chu Hoi or R&R or on leave
or in formation and ready to go
sick or in jail
it would never fail
i didn't know
sometimes fucked up and didn't care
where were you in all of this?
anywhere?