U.S. Army: Battery A, 4th Missile Bn (Herc) 44th Arty
Camp El Paso, Jincheon, Korea (1970)
Standing Guard at the 38th Parallel
Dedicated to those whoÕve stood in defense of Freedom
A glimpse of light appears on silhouettes of mountain peaks.
The night has been long.
My eyes see what I feel, shadows moving.
Silence, not even a breeze.
Great winged moths have ceased their shrill
and multitudes of insects call no longer.
Nor do the frogs make their presence known,
in center of the darkened sky - alone.
Light and color entwine.
Below the mist a small figure moving, alive!
These rotting sandbags surrounded me too long
and, what have I to fear? Shadows aren't real!
Magazine locked, making my rounds.
Feel the presence. (Hear the voices.)
The mountain, the valley filled with unmarked graves.
Mist no longer hides the smell of rice paddies- the village toilet.
I fill my nostrils, at least itÕs real.
Sky full of color now, and the mountains a pretty sight
with the green of the valley all framed in four-inch squares.
Rusting barbs between me and the sunrise.
Human Nature
What with time to stand and stare
beneath the boughs of nature's care,
If to see the life, the love
Displayed o'er this green wood,
A wonderment indeed.
But, can be seen nature's need....
Through all its glory, majestic lure
Can it endure?
Skies will pass as cloudy days
Waters shimmer as if clean and pure
But the land withers as though grown old
With poisioned veins and roots decayed.
Man will sit
and watch and wait...
And be witness
to his own fate.
The Last Mission
In Memory of Lewis B. Puller, Jr.
With all of your strength you've found
A way just to get around
And with stern resolve in your life
Set aside all past strife.
A Purple Heart for your role
Just a Soldier, on patrol...
So strong a force you felt that day
You and your unit entered the fray.
You fought back from hell,
Your story deserved to tell
All the world of your courage.
In their memory and honor shall we respect
Those whoÕve given their lives to protect
The rights of others.
For the cause is justÉ
To defend Freedom from tyranny
With our lives if we must.
Space Telescope
In depth to see
a void or beginning...
Colors without pigment,
and flashes of Blinding light
creating a footpath
or weightlessness to soar on
Electricity pulsating.
Radiation flows
through no sound, touch,
or breath of life;
Entrapped eternal past,
without present time to judge
emptied matter.
Or gift of universe.
With a time to live,
and to die
and soar.
Richard Dana Brody
Copyright ©2009 Richard Dana Brody
Richard Brody
Copyright ©2009 Richard Dana Brody