Navy Chaplain Bob koshin Hanson ministered to troops during the bloodiest and most brutal years of the Vietnam War, an experience that leaves its mark on his poetry. The poems in his just-published book “Musings and Poems” are thoughtful and often painful reflections that move us, challenge us, and often give us strength to continue.
Am I Ready to Die?
I read the writings of my Nam veterans
Death seems to be in mind, and why not
we had been trained to kill,
Even those we are not sure of
of course we don’t want to be killed
How does it go? If I don’t shoot, he will!
More than once, I have been asked
OK Chaplain, what do you say when those eighteen and nineteen years olds
Who ask you the night before their first walk in the jungle
I don’t want to kill anyone
What do you say? I need some help here
Yet there are a few, very few who seem to have a deep understanding
or is it a deep faith that moves them to give it all
not on the battlefield, but in life,
I am not suggesting this act, but am respecting it when it seems to rock our understandings about
the issue of human freedom and compassion over against
war, killing, genocide, or whatever you call the taking of human life.
Sorry, I am confused, tired, wondering, why? How are you doing sister? How are you doing brother?
Might be the questions we ask when it is possible our colleague is thinking of hurting themselves.
I do not want anyone to do what Aaron did, or Charles, or the Buddhist monks through the ages,
how do you understand this radical act of protest? I am always wondering why this happens. It’s one
of those conversations that just seems to never end, and maybe that is the answer, we need to keep
wondering, crying, standing up and deciding, what is our protest? What is your protest now?
Published with permission of author.