Sarah Lawrence

by Bill McCloud

Getting ready to lift off
from Dong Tam
he made sure the Army nurse
was buckled in
hooked up

He said You doin’ okay?
She said:
I wanted to go to Sarah Lawrence
He said hang on
just hang on
She said:
I wanted to go to Sarah Lawrence

He said I heard
you did all that you could
That no one
could have done more
She said:
I wanted to go to Sarah Lawrence
I should’ve gone to Sarah Lawrence

‘Sarah Lawrence’ can be found in Bill’s poetry book, The Smell of Light, taken from letters he wrote home from Vietnam and can be found here.