dead bodies on the side of the road;

freshly killed, bloody, grotesque VC bodies

to remind others that 

VC are not welcome in this village

i'm glad they are dead;

dead VC can no longer kill;

just two dead gooks on the side of the road

as we pass by in our jeep

returning

i see the bodies

now propped up against a tree,

legs crossed,

cigarette dangling from one's mouth;

posed as casually as dolls

by little girls

in preparation for a tea party

i find it funny,

laugh out loud;

i want to take a picture

but defer to preserve

the "Donut Dollie" image

_______________________

i should have known then

that the little girl within me

who had once posed dolls for tea parties,

who had hated the killing and dying

before she went to war,

had also died

she was as surely dead

as the VC bodies on the side of the road

emily strange

©1998