University of Northern Iowa

Light and Shadow, April 1, 2004Author(s): Bill BrownSource: The North American Review, Vol. 290, No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 2005), p. 21Published by: University of Northern IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25127472 .

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N A R

BILL BROWN

Light and Shadow, April lf 2004

Down the hollow from the porch three deer graze their way slowly,

chewing sedge and saw briar.

Spring trees stencil the forest floor

with spiky beginnings of leaves.

One doe's flank swims with shadows

and I am mesmerized by light.

My wife, who brings coffee and paper,

points to the deer and smiles. I glance at the headlines:

nine Americans dead in Iraq, charred remains dragged

through the streets of Fallujah, two bodies hung from a bridge.

My grandfather fought in WWI,

my father in WWII, my brother was wounded in Vietnam,

my best friend in basic training died near Da Nang. I won't speak

against the courage of soldiers,

but sound bites and pictures have haunted my fifty years with wars that surround humanity's neck like a string of death pearls. Yet in the hills of Tennessee, even on cloudy days, the copper of broom sage tames unmown pastures,

where the flight of birds charms the pewter

of roadside ponds.

WILLIAM FORD

River Crossing, Vietnam

We crossed to the other side of the river

Under the shade of bamboo stumps. The day was hot and we sprawled On a bank and blew little storms In the sand with our breath. Sand fleas

Gathered for the free bath and the next

Tunnel opening barely showed And we thought how good it was

When the lieutenant's head floated by Bobbing like the glass fishing floats That were tied to the nets from Japan That used to wash up on the beaches

Of Puget Sound. We put them

In our gardens so smoky and green But if you dropped one it shattered So badly our parents said it was like

Everything the gooks did in the last war, Pure imitation, which we agree with

Except for AK-47s and tunnels like this one

Booby-trapped with our own mines.

November-December 2005 NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW 21

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