The first set is ones I have written for women veterans: I wrote these poems that were selected (along with four others) at an art show in Salem, Oregon that was on exhibit for several months called "The Images of Vietnam". I was the only woman and only non-combat veteran accepted in the show along with sixteen others statewide...I felt very privileged to be included in the show. This show ran in February through the end of March in 1989.
UNITY AND STRENGTH
It is time we come forward,
we have waited long enough,
to be recognized as veterans.
We've fought numerous battles
of attitudes and prejudices.
We are, indeed, unique,
for we are risk takers,
and ground breakers,
by joining the service.
We've marched in every war,
helping fight behind the lines
and on front lines with you.
We've dealt with hostility
by being put in places
where we weren't wanted.
We've been ignored, harassed,
threatened and assaulted.
We've faced the same enemies as you,
even had more enemies than you,
for sometimes you were our enemy.
We're not here to point a finger,
to condemn or make accusations.
We're here to join hands and voices
in unity and strength,
to claim our right to be recognized
not just as women veterans,
but that we're veterans, too.Lynda Cameron (copyright 1990)
WOMEN ARE VETERANS, TOO
We weren't just tokens or pretty faces,
to decorate your offices and platoons;
we weren't dumb, too plain or too stupid
to make it in the real world.
We've marched your muddy roads,
carried and shot your heavy guns.
We've been shot at, wounded, and died,
and been prisoners of war.
We've been active in all services,
and risen to high ranks.
We've tended your bleeding wounds,
and held you when you were dying.
We've flown your mighty airplanes
and navigated your giant ships.
We've fixed your broken engines
and driven heavy equipment.
We've mailed letters for you,
and brought you news from home.
We've stood along side of you,
without flinching or running away,
and continue to stand by you today.
We are not asking for special treatment,
or that you should go out of your way.
We're only asking that you recognize
that women's are veterans, too.Lynda K. Cameron USMC 1966-67
This poem is dedicated to my friend, Paul Cochran, who died in Vietnam:
Etched in Stone
I cried when I saw them
And thought, Oh God, not you;
Then they told you had died
In the jungles of Vietnam,
Trying to save people
And that was so like him.
I remember his deep compassion
And how he use to dream
Of wanting freedom for everyone
In a more peaceful world;
And how it became shattered
In a war that no one wants to remember.
All that remains with me now,
Is his warm and gentle memory,
Making it harder for me
To touch
The coldness of his name,
Etched in stone.
Lynda Koleena cameron (copywrite 1988)
This poem is dedicated to all wives of Vietnam Veterans)
I Wish I Had Known
I wish,
I had known
how to deal with
your empty eyes,
your unspoken pain,
and your forbidding silence.
I wish,
I would have known,
How to draw you out,
To talk with you,
To listen to what you
Needed to say.
I wish,
I would have known,
how stay with you
over all these years;
to let you know
that I really loved you,
I wish,
more than anything,
I would have known
how to convince you
that I was not….
your enemy.
By Lynda Koleena Cameron (copywrite 1988)
This poem is dedicated to all Vietnam Veterans who came home)
That Was Hard Enough
In the dark humid forest
I swore,
I would never love,
or believe again,
the day my soul
laid shattered.
next to the stillness
of my best friend.
That was hard enough.
Feeling heartsick and fragile,
I came home to face,
unjust spit and venom
and foul words of hate;
until the bitterness
and disbelief
became my pilgrimage,
and anger and trust
my way of life.
You ask me now
why I find it hard
to trust,
even after
all these years;
for I am haunted more
by the memories of hate,
than I am a distant war.
By Lynda Koleena Cameron (copywrite 1988)