Classic and Contemporary Poetry
WAITER IN A CALIFORNIA VIETNAMESE RESTURANT, by CLARENCE MAJOR Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: With the smell of firebombing Subject(s): Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 | ||||||||
With the smell of firebombing still in his nose, he brings our plates to the table pausing for a vertiginous instant, holding them as though they are two stones. When he tries to smile his face turns purple like sky above that Red River delta. He once stood against a tree with both arms above his head, like somebody about to dance flamenco, but he wasn't, it was the time of the Spring Offensive, and he was looking into the barrel of a rifle held by a boy whose trigger finger had turned to stone. Used with the permission of Copper Canyon Press, P.O. Box 271, Port Townsend, WA 98368-0271, www.cc.press.org | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SECOND-HAND ELEGY; FOR DOUGLAS DICKEY, PFC., USMC by MICHAEL ANANIA AT A MARCH AGAINST THE VIETNAM WAR (LATER VERSION) by ROBERT BLY ON BEING ASKED TO WRITE A POEM AGAINST THE WAR IN VIETNAM by HAYDEN CARRUTH HOMELESS COMPLEYNT by ALLEN GINSBERG IN THAI BINH (PEACE) PROVINCE by DENISE LEVERTOV WEEPING WOMAN by DENISE LEVERTOV BREAKING OPEN by MURIEL RUKEYSER READ THE SIGNS by CLARENCE MAJOR |
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