Surabaya Do I want to know what you saw? You smile slightly in a three-quarter view,here in this photo taken during the war,This is one of two pictures I’ve seen of you. You smile slightly in a three-quarter view,perhaps thinking it was the last image they’d see.This is one of two pictures I’ve seen of you.You who fathered my father, my legacy. Perhaps thinking it was the last image they’d see,you went to fight behind enemy lines.You who fathered my father, my legacy,were the first born here from a family of nine. You went to fight behind enemy lines,volunteering for long range penetration.The first born here after a family of nine,you defended a new country, a new generation. Volunteering for long range penetration,you marched with machete through Burma.Defending a new country, a new generation.Would your heart fail through sadness or murmur? You marched with machete through Burma,like Galahad, one of Merrill’s Marauders.Would your heart fail through sadness or murmur?Now call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Like Galahad, one of Merrill’s Marauders,you did not want to talk of your mission.Now call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.What kind of knight has marred visions? You did not want to talk of your mission.Some nightmare, and you awoke screaming.What kind of knight has marred visions?Your new wife near-strangled while dreaming. Some nightmare, and you awoke screaming.In the dark, who could know what you saw?Your new wife near-strangled while dreaming.You hid your purple heart and bronze star. In the dark, who could know what you saw?Here is the photo taken during the war.You hid your purple heart and bronze star.Do I want to know what you saw?
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*Henry Ernest Guillet (b. July 9th, 1923) served in the Army
in 1943-44 with the 5307th Composite Unit. He was shot in
the hand, losing the ring his mother had given him and
Charrette in 1948 and died July 8th, 1973, in the Brockton
V.a. hospital, the day before his 50th birthday.
––Melissa Guillet’s work appears in many journals and anthologies,including Bloodroot Literary Magazine (Pushcart Nominee) and The Cortland Review. Founder of Sacred Fools Press, she writes a sustainable living blog at:
www.aroundtheworldin100miles.blogspot.com.
We were proud to feature Melissa's work in Volume 8 of Kansas City Voices, order your copy at:
http://www.kansascityvoices.com/