Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Other Atrocities

“What Vietnam Did to My Mouth
        (and Other Atrocities)”

"Send guys to war, they come home talking dirty." - Tim O'Brien

Listen up Dad, sorry 'bout that Mom, but
your dotted swiss pinafore daughter is gone.
Sold too cheap to Uncle Sam,
traded to a pimp in a suburb of Saigon--
worked my body, fucked my mind
'till governments, tired of their little gook game,
tossed back home a badass bitch vet.

You'll have to welcome a stranger back home
because all my lacy pink girl words are done.
My words no longer tiptoe, meek on your ear;
they refuse to sit prim in your parlor
or politely wait their turn.
My words won't pour your afternoon tea;
they won't crochet doilies,
or offer you a scone.
My words don't plant verbena
and they don't sip sherry.
They don't wear hats on Sunday and they don't
play with dolls.

My now words are vet words and they don't mess around:
vet words are saddled-up words,
can-do words that get it done now.
Vet words don't give a rusty rat's ass;
they march right up and get in your face.
Vet words scream and vet words bleed;
vet words keep secrets like "brother" and "love."
Vet words kick ass and vet words take names.
Easy to spell but hard to say,
vet words were learned at
some other mother's knee.
Vet words are holy and vet words are plain.
They have seen it all and they paint what they see.
Vet words are truth with a capital T.

                                                                        - Dana Shuster

There are some things to consider when reading this poem, and applying its message to your reading of Tim O'Brien's novel. Try to answer the following questions, and see if your answers help you in the process of writing about both texts.
  • Who is the speaker of the poem? How does the speaker of the poem differ from the narrator of O'Brien's novel? Given what we know or are able to surmise about each, how are their experiences with the Vietnam War different? ... how are they the same?
  • What do you make of the repeated personification of the speaker's "lacy pink girl words." What do the words do as a result of having experienced Vietnam? ... what don't they do?
  • Is there any significance to the few lines that rhyme? Why might Shuster choose to rhyme only a few lines, rather than develop a more complete rhyme scheme? What effect might this have on a reader's interpretation of the poem?
  • Why might the speaker of the poem choose to curse or swear? What effect does such a choice in diction have on our understanding of the piece?
Feel free to discuss these questions - or any others you may have - with each other through this post. Whenever appropriate for me to do so, I will comment and try to guide conversation.