Distentio
I recently received this Vietnam War poem from my Facebook friend and author, William Paul Beau Gruendler. I thought it was quite good and wanted to share it with you.
Distentio is a Latin term that translates to “a stretching” or “a distention.” It refers to the act of being stretched or expanded and can also indicate a state of being stretched apart. (Apologies to HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW)
The shades of night were falling fast
As through an Old Man’s hourglass
passed
A youth, who penned,
in marker, black,
His helmet with the
Latin crack:
“Distentio”!
His brow indifferent
beneath,
His bayonet still
in its
sheath.
He’d had some
college, so he sung
In accents of that
unknown tongue,
“Distentio!”
Downhill the shrapnel
split the air.
Artillery? What did he
care?
Above, the spectral
gunships roared,
But from his lips
escaped a bored,
“Distentio!”
Intel had cut the
troops no slack.
“Beware the human
wave attack!”
Thus were the
peasants poised to kill.
A voice replied, far up
the hill:
“Distentio!”
“We’re calling jets,”
the sargeant said;
“So stack those
sandbags overhead,
And dig in deep;
prepare to fight!”
Now hear a voice
o’ercome with fright:
“Distentio!”
“Dear John,” the
girlfriend’s letter said,
“For all I know, you
might be dead.”
A tear stood in his
bright blue eye,
He’d answered her but
with a sigh:
“Distentio!”
At break of day, from
heavenward
As MEDEVAC came
chopping toward
The ruins of that
landing zone
A voice cried, though
it were a groan:
“Distentio!”
A soldier, by cadaver
hound,
Half-buried in the clay
was found,
Still perched upon his
quiet head
That helmet scrawled
with black and red:
“Distentio!”
This morning, under
cold gray skies,
Alone, an old man
tries to rise.
He feels he hears a cry from
far,
As from the clouds
the Muse of War:
“Distentio!”
*****
If you are interested in helmet artwork during the Vietnam War, then follow the link to check out that post on my website: https://cherrieswriter.com/2018/08/27/helmet-cover-graffiti/
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