HAS TO

has to be
about bears

about doors
that open

where bears
should be

- Bob Heman

TELL ME AGAIN

day floats by
a great whale

drunken cricket songs
drown the shushing sea

the door to the cellar of myself
is swollen shut with tears

I will never forget
this land is not my own

slanting sun lays bare
fleshy limbs of beech trees
goes down in rosy waves

is the day endingor is the secret of secrets
rising with the moon

tell me again
who I am

The Golden Rule

Sometimes life gets so hard along the way that we forget that it is essential for our future to take care of one another. No matter how much money, power, or education one might acquire we are all still subjected to the pressures of this world. One can easily become a negative person when one starts to realize that life is not turning out the way one intended it to. At times it can seem that life strikes us down, only to kick us back down while we are still on the floor. Sometimes our lives get so involved in the pressures of this world that we forget how to live and how to treat others. It is during these hard times that The Golden Rule, which says, “ do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is often forgotten about. In the story “This is what it means to say Phoenix, Arizona” by Sherman Alexie, we see that this world can get lonely at times and that one never knows when or from whom someone might need help in the future, it is better to treat others the same way one would like to be treated because one never knows for certain how life will turn out.

No one knows for certain how life will eventually turn out and therefore nothing is for certain in this world except death. Some people work hard to catch a break and never catch it, while others hardly work and the breaks come right to them. The future is not for certain and life at times could seem like a swing, because when one is riding high it feels good but when is riding low it feels bad. Like Victor in the story who did not think that he would ever need something from Thomas, we also sometimes do same thing and forget to think that we ourselves might need something from someone tomorrow. This is why the golden rule is so important, because in life there will come a time when the roles get reversed and then the ones who have will turn into the ones that need. It does not feel good to get the short end of the stick and if one is not careful today then karma could come back and pay us a visit tomorrow. So as the Golden Rule says, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Even though this world is full of people it can still get hard and lonely at times, so like the dreams of Thomas were saying, “take care of each other (Pg. 254)” it is up to us as a people to take care of each other in times of need. Thomas did not have to go and help Victor make arrangements for his father’s death especially since Victor had wronged him, but Thomas understood the importance of helping others in times of need. When unexpected things in life happen like a family member’s death it can get hard to carry on especially when it seems like no one cares. However there is always going to be someone that cares, one just needs to look past the social boundaries that dictate who can care about what. We are all human beings in need of help and we all deal with similar issues; we just need to look past the social boundaries that separate us.

In this world we all need to be a little more empathetic with others because we all go through similar hardships in life, it’s just that we get to caught up in our individual worlds that we sometimes do not see it. We have all experienced pain at some time in our life, and we have all been lied to at some time in our life. We can not lie and say that we are all equal in wealth and in health but we are all equal in the fact that we all only have one life to live, and that we all know that nothing in this life is for certain except death. As Alexie’s story ends, perhaps we learn that we should treat each other same way we would all individually like to be treated.

Work Cited

Sherman, Alexie. “This Is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona.” Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing.

3^rd ED. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. San Francisco: Longman, 2010. 247-257. Print.

Editor’s Note:

I met Bill Mohr recently when he read a selection of Leland Hickman’s work at a special tribute to the late poet.

We are honored to have some of Bill’s work on blueprint. He teaches at California State University, Long Beach.

Susan Gangel

LES PECHES AU CYGNE

being extinguished

even enlightenment

feels its tranquility

pinched

as the rind

peels away

from nothingness

Note: “Les Peches au cygne” is the original name Auguste Escoffier gave to peches Melba (Escoffier. Marjory Bartlett Sanger, FSG, 1976, p. 121)

FINAL WINTER RAIN

rain beading on braided petals

tiny drops retracting their slide

from the pale green center into yellow

pentagonal darts, soft

as the sound of blessing sought

from the taut caress of bliss

renewing the radiance of fingertips

and the slow flow of lifted warmth

IRREVERSIBLE CHANT

Too soon to spill the inaugural crackle of the unrevealed

Too soon to summon the colors of a garden and sift them through each other’s slits

Too soon to wrestle with the demons who adore your weaknesses

Too soon to panic

Too soon to restore the probable to the ridiculous

Too soon to lure the skeptical into the caverns of perseverance

Too soon to moisten the circumference of bitter justice

Too soon to reproach the genitive

Too soon to tell it to the thunder

Too soon to weird the woven dark into the ruptured dusk of yet-to-come

Too soon to beg, like drunken idolaters, the mountains to devour us

Too soon to rub the silences between these words, their solid corners softened

by affliction

Too soon to stifle the whispers clasping to the letters, each one in the shimmer

and shifts of swelling further apart, like inhalations deepening to gasps,

the f and l and g and s commencing to sing with a single vowel

REVELATION

Common as coin and wrapped mint

spilled on a table in a portal of half-light.

In season the ripe outstrips even desire.

A fine dust settles on the Fuyu persimmon,

comparison to time, useless. I polish then peel

and slice. The taste, a perfection words can’t craft.

Thus, by flesh, intimacy has been written.

Not as commandment. As recipe.

FORTUNE

What is sought

after cannot be found in word

or seed.

She tapes promises

from Chinese fortune cookies

to the first page of a journal –

disembodied leaves. Consults them

as migratory birds do

thermals.

Take heart. Nothing lost, each abundance caught

and released as season

dictates.

For instance, Fall is a spill

leaving a body

naked.

Welcome her.

Who do you think is Brain Washed?

Michael Herr’s “From Dispatches” is one among many pieces he has written that reminded me of when I was in the military. Joining the military is optional, but once you are in you cannot not leave until you have served your time. Now Michael Herr was a reporter for Esquire and volunteered to be at the front lines of the Vietnam War, and he had the choice to leave anytime. I served in the military for five years; four of them were with the Marines. While with the Marines I served about a year with the “grunts” or infantry then decided to try out for the Scout Sniper Platoon. Scout Sniper Platoon was an elite group of the Marines, which means you’re treated better and have a little more freedom. Trying out was one of the most difficult things I have ever tried to do; it was a two day endurance test with no food or sleep. You had to volunteer to try out for the platoon, but if you failed or got hurt you wouldn’t be out of the military; I would just stay with the grunt unit I was already with. Many people have misconceptions about the military and how it works; people believe you can leave anytime you are not happy or when things get to difficult; this is what separates the military from Michael Herr.

I remember telling my family and friends about my experiences in the military, and no one could ever understand my reasoning for doing it. Being part of a “grunt unit” you experience what it’s like to be brain washed by the military. Marines did what they were told, didn’t ask questions, didn’t matter how insane it sounded. I lived, breathed, and shared things with my unit that I wouldn’t even share with my family. I was in the navy, which has different boot camp and different standards. I will admit the Marines are not allowed much room for error; the navy had a little more forgiveness. The reason I am telling you this is because is it may give you a different perspective about reporting in Vietnam.

I need to tell you what we did as training in the military, so you might be able to “imagine” what it could possibly be like. You also must try to endure the suffering of the military personnel who were forced to experience the fear of death, forced to kill, and see mutilation from war. We have not had a draft since the Vietnam War, and we have people now who volunteered for military and now try to escape going to war. No one can understand what war is like, unless you have been there, I have experienced the closest thing to it and I could not fathom the ideas or feelings involved.

One of the most memorable field ops I did was getting CS gassed (tear gas) for the first time. I remember waking up that morning a little excited but scared at the same time. I have only heard about CS gas used during riots, I never thought I would stand in a small room and wait for someone to drop a can. There are no slow processes in the military; we had to walk about a mile or two just to arrive at the gas chamber, so you could only imagine the anticipation. Standing in line as if waiting for an amusement park ride, the only difference, when people are getting off they don’t have a smile on their face. We are called in and move into what looks like a state park bathroom with no toilets or stalls. As we fall into ranks, which were fours rows, five people each row, I saw our instructor in the corner with a gas mask on. The instructors began to give us instructions. “After we drop the gas, you will have 8 seconds to put on your gas mask and clear it. An instructor will move through the ranks and when he is in front of you, remove your gas mask, and state your name, rank, and social security number. Do not try to hold your breath or you will do it over, if you do it correctly; the instructor will give you permission to put on your gas mask”.

Even though I did everything I was told the instructors decided to have a little fun with me. I was asked to stay in the chamber with four others and the games started, they dropped another can and did not allow us to put on our gas masks, rather we were ordered to run in place and sing, “Mary had a Little Lamb”. They wanted to ensure we felt the gas, and they succeeded in every way. Every area of my face that could leak fluid did, my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth were like faucets. You can’t see it’s difficult to breathe and you feel like you just had the worst running nose ever. This was just my first time, I have been CS gassed more than ten to fifteen times, at least twice a year. No one can say I didn’t volunteer for this, but this also was not it in the job description I read. Now Michael Herr was in the jungle getting shot at, seeing death all around him, and spent most nights worrying about whether tonight will be his last. Why would someone volunteer for that, and once they experience a night or two of war, it’s safe to assume most people would leave.

I will admit Marines are brainwashed to fight, and do what’s told of them without question. They had no choice to go home if things got bad, there was no option but to press forward and survive. What separates Herr, is his choice to stay no matter the consequence. I wonder what would drive a man to stay around death, suffering, and the mental issues which will plague him for life, to stay in such a situation for a “story”. Is it capitalism, fame, or greed that will turn one man’s hell into another man’s livelihood? I personally think Herr was crazy for staying, but yet I thank him, for without his stories people would have never known the devastation of war. The reporters should tell the world what war was really like, but during World War II, they did not have the same communication technology available. There is something about seeing same day footage of war that changes people’s perspective on why we are fighting.

Work Cited

Herrt, Michael. “From Dispatches.” “The Heath Anthology Of American Literature.” Edition 5. Paul Lauter. Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006. Pgs 2382-2390.

The Horrors of the Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the public in America protested and rioted against the government’s actions. Public approval for President Johnson slumped to an all time low. As images and videos of the war streamed back to the American public, people got an in-depth view at the atrocities of war. However, few photojournalists or news reporters were able to capture the immense terror and gross destruction of life as poet Robert Bly in the poem “The Teeth Mother Naked at Last”. The work presents some of the real-life war-crimes and horrors of the widely misunderstood war. Using great imagery and symbolism, Bly’s poem successfully represents the realities of war to the average reader. His description attacks the ego-centric superior views of the American government and military, as well as the institutions of civilization and world-power that lead a government to attack such a small country.

Born in 1926, Bly served in the navy for two years after graduating high school. He became very opposed to the Vietnam War, and co-founded the “Authors against the Vietnam war” movement. He wrote a few works in opposition to the Vietnam War, including “Counting small boned Bodies”, and “The Teeth Mother Naked at Last”. In the latter work, Bly describes some of the horrors of the battlefield. From the point of view of an omniscient bystander, he describes the scene, “The death-bee is coming, Super Sabres like knots of neurotic energy sweep around and return. This is Hamilton’s triumph. This is the advantage of a centralized-bank. B-52’s come in from Guam. All the teachers die in flames. The hopes of Tolstoy fall asleep in the ant heap. Do not ask for mercy.” (p 2413). The scene is violent and erratic as planes come in from all directions to bomb the helpless villagers. Innocent people are massacred in a fiery oblivion. Bly criticizes the American central-banking system and the egotistical view of superiority over different cultures, deeming them as less-civilized and more primitive. Bly alludes to Leo Tolstoy, a Russian Author. Tolstoy believed that according to the Buddhist, Christian, and Hindu religions, the path to eternal salvation could only be reached by a simple lifestyle, such as the lifestyle of many Vietnamese villagers in this case. The path to salvation could not be achieved by a life plagued with materialism and greed. Tolstoy quotes Matthew 19:24, saying “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”, (Chapter IV of Confession by Tolstoy). Bly alludes to Tolstoy as an attack on the rich, greed-stricken American government in response to their destruction of a much simpler lifestyle.

Bly goes on to emphasize the brutal massacres of innocent civilians in the war. He describes a bloody scene, saying “800 steel pellets fly through the vegetable walls. The six-hour infant puts his fists instinctively to his eyes to keep out the light. But the room explodes, the children explode. Blood leaps on the vegetable walls. Yes, I know, blood leaps on the walls – Don’t Cry at that – do you cry at the wind pouring out of Canada?” (p 2413). Bly attempts to expose the brutal type of slaughter that was an actual reality of the Vietnam War. This type of massacre happened all-too-often in villages and farm lands across Vietnam. Bly’s poem takes a shift as some of the lines are spoken through a marine sergeant’s voice. “Kill them: I don’t want to see anything moving. Every banana tree slashed, every cooking utensil smashed, every mattress cut… Let’s hear it again, do you believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost?” (p 2414). Bly unearths the heartlessness and barbarism displayed by the American military, in their maniacal fits of rage fueled by false-views of superiority. According to Bly’s description, battalions would often burn down entire villages, massacre innocent and helpless people, and destroy the remaining villagers’ livelihoods.

The next part of Bly’s account the Vietnam War deals with the political establishments of the American government. “The ministers lie, the professors lie, the priests lie… it is a desire to take death inside, to feel it burning inside, pushing out velvety hairs, like a clothes brush in the intestines. It is a thrill that leads the President on to lie” (p 2415). Bly criticizes the accounts of the Vietnam War from the point of view of government officials, church officials, and school professors. Most of their descriptions of the war show a patriotic fight to emancipate the struggling South Vietnam, instead of describing the immense atrocities and war-crimes committed in villages all across the Northern-Vietnamese landscape. Once again Bly attacks the establishments that cause a giant world-power like America to attack a country out of greed and political gain, saying “This is what it’s like for a rich country to make war. This is what it’s like to bomb huts (afterwards described as ‘structures). This is what it’s like to kill marginal farmers (afterwards described as ‘communists’)” (p 2416). In this sense, Bly shows that the news accounts that people are seeing and believing back in the USA are far from the truth. The words are wrangled around and changed to justify the slaughter of civilians and destruction of villages. Bly returns to the account of the Marine-Sergeant, speaking on his radio “Baron 25, this is 81. Are there any friendlies in the area? 81 from 25, negative on the friendlies. I’d like you to take out as many structures as possible in those trees within 200 meters east and west of my smoke” (p 2416). With a complete disregard of civilian life, commanders would order airstrikes on locations of “possible” enemies, unbeknownst as to how many unaccounted for civilians could be vaporized in the attack.

Robert Bly wishes to open the eyes of the reader to the atrocities of the Vietnam War. He says to the reader, “If a child came by burning, you would dance on a lawn, trying to leap into the air, digging into your cheeks, you would ram your head against the wall of your bedroom, like a bull penned too long in his moody pen- if one of those children came toward me with both hands in the air, fire rising to the elbows, I would suddenly go back to my animal brain, I would drop on all fours, screaming, my vocal chords would turn blue, so would yours, and it would be two days before I could play with my own children again” (p 2418). As a vivid wake up call to the reader, Bly attempts to describe what it would be like for the readers to experience such a horrible sight that occurred very often in the Vietnam War. It would certainly change the minds of most skeptics who were in support of the war.

Robert J. Bly’s account of the Vietnam War expressed in “The Teethed Mother Naked at Last” is a morbid, gruesome picture implanted in the readers mind. He attacks the political and social establishments that turn a blind cheek to the Vietnam War. He criticizes the greedy government and political systems that lie to the public about a terrible war fought for greed and political gain. Bly dares the reader to picture the atrocities of war that so many were unaware of at the time. No matter how far humans have come in terms of civilization, they still revert back to their animalistic selves in times of war, slaughtering each other like mindless beasts. Bly exposes the truth of the Vietnam War using symbolism, vivid imagery, and allusions.

Works Cited page

Bly, Robert J. “The Teeth Mother Naked at Last”. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Paul later. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin 2006. Pages 2414-2418

Tolstoy, Leo. Confession. WW Norton and Co Inc, 1984.