Prologue
Vietnam - December 1961
was when the first U.S. soldier fell;
the last in 1975, when we ceded it to a foe we didn't quell.
In the interval nearly three million served
in our nation's longest war.
My experiences related herein took place in 1970;
there were many more.

Bordellos flourished in off-limits Saigon,
near where jungle combat raged.
Wiser lonely men favored a woman's company
over intimacy.
Any delight for sale, so too was relaxing dialogue
with a congenial hostess.
Thus, the purchase of a drink and a "Saigon tea"
enabled verbal intercourse.

But some elected other arrangements in Saigon.

{ Saigon - An officer billet in Cholon, the Chinese district.
It's mid-morning;
a satchel charge is thrown against my hotel.
The sidewalk is submerged in splintered glass;
luckily, no one is hurt.
Devoid of its windows and facade,
the building seems naked. }

Paul was a headquarters staff advisor -
a naval officer of field grade -
who resided inside Saigon city in a small second-story flat.
There he subsidized Nhà,
a charming, attractive Vietnamese paramour;
an alcove held a photo of Paul's wife and family,
far from Saigon.

{ Saigon - the slender pretty co on night-desk duty
wears the classic white Vietnamese ao dai costume.
In quest of a college degree, she is studying chemistry,
unaware that in five years' time she will be shot as a subversive. }

Paul paid the rent and furnished PX supplies
to sustain the nest.
Nhà provided wifely value
and hosted frequent dinner parties.
Gracious and congenial, she entertained Vietnamese style,
feting guests in a manner
appropriate to Paul's officer rank.

And so would pass twelve felicitous months in Saigon.

{ Saigon - Accompanied by a fellow officer,
I am on a street, shopping for a ceramic elephant,
dollars saved for the purchase safely buttoned in my shirt.
A soft-voiced youth approaches - asks if I have "green;"
my hand unwittingly moves toward a shirt pocket. }

A remarkable event transpired
as Paul's tour neared its end.
(For all returned to the U.S. after a year "in country." )
Paul and Nhà hosted a lavish farewell dinner party.
Within the usual group, reposing in idealized fantasy,
a stranger was present - introduced as Jack, new to Saigon.

{ Saigon - A tiny child darts from an alley and hugs myleg.
Chuckling, I bend over to shoo her off, shirt hanging loose.
She abruptly lets go and vanishes into an alley.
The pocket is open and the cash, too, has disappeared. }

After the typical splendid repast,
as relaxed discourse abated,
Paul announced his impending departure
to "the land of the Great PX."
Whereupon he embraced Nhà and,
with no particular emotion,
presented Jack,
proclaiming him successor to the enchanting houri.
Jack displaced Paul at her side,
and she dutifully caressed the new arrival,

grasping anew the Apple of Sodom in Saigon.

{ Saigon - a crowded street - a shot -
in the curb lies a crumbled old woman.
A non la -capped ba squats near the body,
removing rings from lifeless fingers
while the glowering killer, a young Vietnamese militiaman,
weapon in hand, departs the scene
through a quickly-parting throng. }

Outwardly at least,
Nhà beamed pleasure at the fresh arrangement.
But this happy event did not mask enough
the implied sad reality:
A contrived passing relationship
that would engender no surviving value.

Thus ends this ballad
of renewable, pragmatic, transient love
not unlike rose-colored water contracted at aperitif price:

a rococo chalice of Saigon tea.

{ Saigon - it is ten p.m. -
the streets are quiet in enforced curfew.
From the hotel rooftop restaurant
flares are seen flickering over the jungle.
Viet Cong launch quotidian rockets
at the nearby Presidential Palace.
At six, curfew ends; clattering pedicabs shatter the quiet -
unlocking another day.

Epilogue
I wonder if now, more than 50 years later, Nhà is still alive.
Perhaps, due to reprisal by Communists,
she failed to survive.
Or did she manage, from her relationships multiplex,
to gain refuge in the United States - land of the Great PX ?

Postscript Vignettes

I serve as juror at a postal clerk's court-martial,
He is accused of opening mail to remove erotic prints
Which wives and girl friends
frequently send to lovers overseas.
He is found guilty.
I sometimes wonder who took the photographs.

{ Saigon - Americans advise on how to defeat the VC.
Impatient to get the job done,
we operate seven days a week,
But the Vietnamese don't rotate to the U.S. after a year;
They wage war five days a week and observe all holidays.

I'm to be awarded
the South Vietnam "Staff Service Medal, 1st Class."
It's "first class" because I am an officer;
enlisted get the "2nd-class" medal.
Dignitaries have arrived,
and my fellow staff officers are lined in ranks.
I think to myself,
"This is ridiculous, I’ve done nothing special here,"
But I'll be leaving soon,
and the medal is more-or-less automatic.

Saigon - The citation is read in English and Vietnamese -
everyone is bored.
A pretty co presents the flashy medal
atop a purple gold-fringed velvet cushion
On its corners dangle gold tassels.
The South Vietnamese Navy Chief of Naval Operations,
Commodore Chon,
Pins the medal to my shirt.
The company is dismissed; everyone leaves. }

Notes on terminology . . .

Ao dai ("ow yigh")- a traditional Vietnamese woman's costume, usually worn with the non la (see below). Peasants usually wore black trousers with a white full-length smock, split on both sides; young women in the city usually wore white trousers for a completely white attire.

Apple of Sodom - a mythical fruit which, when bitten, turns to dust.

Ba - a Vietnamese word for "older woman" ( e.g., Mrs. ).

Co ("ko") - a Vietnamese word for "young woman" ( e.g., Miss ).

Green - a term for U.S. currency, illegal to possess in Vietnam, but sought by the black-market.

Non la - a traditional conical cap usually made of palm leaves.

Pedicab - a motorcycle fitted with a 2-wheeled car seat (facing forward) in front of the driver, used as a taxi. Variations replaced the seat with a framework to carry produce, livestock, etc . . . Other similar conveyances were constructed to hold six or more passengers. These vehicles, together with the many motorcycles (cyclos) and motor scooters (often carrying entire families), were incredibly noisy and noxious.

Saigon tea - a small glass of cold tea or colored water sold at a mixed-drink price
( All parties endorsed the pretense ).

Scrip ( military scrip ) - legal tender used by the Allies within Vietnam.

VC – Viet-Cong.