Old Ghosts
Old ghosts wandering the streets of old Saigon
Lost spirits of the dead
Died during the endless wars
Ghostly apparitions around every corner
Here was Kilroy and his gang of soldiers
Over there were the Viet Cong waiting to kill them
Saigon is filled with memories like that
Terrible times were had here in Old Saigon
Silently the ghosts parade the city streets
Ghosts of Chu Chi
Crawling down the tunnels
Of Chu Chi
I could almost imagine
The Viet Kong guerillas
Hiding deep under the tunnels
As the land above is turned
Into a temporary dessert
With the vegetation burned off
By napalm and agent orange
The Viet Kong creep out at night
Stealing onto the bases
Stealing weapons, food, supplies
And occasionally killing soldiers
In their sleep
The US soldiers
Stay on base at night
Terrified of the mosquitos
And of the Viet Kong
the ghosts
Surround me
Telling me their stories
And at last I fled
Through the emergency escape tunnel
Declaring victory
Profoundly shaken up
By the ghosts of the Chu Chi tunnels
John (“Jake”) Cosmos Aller is a novelist, poet, and former Foreign Service officer having served 27 years with the U.S. State Department serving in ten countries - (Korea, Thailand, India, the Eastern Caribbean (lived in Barbados but covering Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts, St Lucia, and St Vincent) and Spain, and traveled to 50 countries, and 49 out of 50 States. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he taught overseas for five years and served in the Peace Corps in Korea. He has an MPA and MA degree (Korean studies) from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has written four novels, 900 poems, and 50 short stories. His work has appeared in over 25 literary journals.
