It's practically impossible
to tell civilians
from the Viet Cong.

Nobody wears uniforms.
They all talk
the same language
(and you couldn't understand them
even if they didn't).

They tape grenades
inside their clothes,
and carry satchel charges
in their market baskets.

Even their women fight.
And young boys.
And girls.

It's practically impossible
to tell civilians
from the Viet Cong.

After awhile,
you quit trying.

Copyright © 1975 by W. D. Ehrhart
A Generation of Peace, New Voices Publishing Company, 1975

This poem is currently published in
Beautiful Wreckage, New & Selected Poems, Adastra Press, 1999