An American Song
(Dedicated to The Nobel Prize Committee 2009)
The Potomac River just woke up
As the sun gives her a good morning kiss,
Autumn is approaching, the leaves to change colors...
From a snowy town far far away
An intrusive call descends upon the American soldier:
"Hey, your commander in chief won the Nobel Peace Prize!"
He feels a sudden sharp pain in his chest
He lays his M-16, wiping the sweat from his face
He realizes an Al-Qaeda sniper can cut him off
He crawls into a shallow cave to shield his body
He feels so lonely as never before.
"What a shoddy job Nobel Committee!" the soldier mumbles,
"I am still going after the bastard terrorists..."
The GI wants to roar with anger, piercing this eerie Afghan desert
"Oh God and Country, save our America!
Don't let a sign of recognition seduce Mr. Obama;
The politicians don't know what my fighting buddies know
'Peace' is only in the realm of the abstract,
Unlike science: medicine, physics, chemistry...
Please do not betray Mr. Nobel
By inserting your strategy inside his honor, Nobel Committee..."
At a place somewhere in the U.S.A.,
A born poet misses so much his Papa San
Whose soul is resting in peace
His name engraved on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
He prays for his Viet Vet Daddy,
And for the patriots who have given America their all...
Linh Duy Vo
13 October 2009©
Poet's Note: Please consider nominating this piece of poetry -- as any reader like yourself can -- for a Pulitzer prize honor. Though I am skeptical about it, I want to consider the thought of doing this as a token of honoring our benevolent American soldiers who presently are stationed everywhere just to procure peace for us, the American citizens.
© Copyright by Linh Duy Vo. All rights reserved.