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