Hey, GI, you know that memorial
you always call the Nurses' Statue?
The one where those three
tower
over all of us,
you know that
Vietnam Women's Memorial
it's for all of them:
the donut dollie at An Khe
whose party trick one day
was dabbing pieces of bloody
flesh back on guys
from the First Cav
and the other women
who had to smile no
matter what, no matter
how fucked up some poor
soldier was
even if he had
maggots in his thigh wound
or no thigh at all;
it's for every single one of them
the Spec 5 in Saigon
and intel gal at Long Binh,
the flying nurses
and the RNs in triage
who came home with
rusty cuticles and weary eyes,
they showed up when
the rest of America
squirmed uneasily,
backed away
from you and your buddies,
it's the Women's Memorial
for all the women
who didn't have to be there
but went and served
and paid their dues;
hey, GI, try:
"Welcome home, sister.
Welcome home, Vet."