Born on the Eleventh of November
(To Julie Kink in honor of our beloved Vietnam Veterans)
A loving sister came to the Wall
Looking for her brother’s name
She touched the living image
"Who’s there?…we look much the
same."
She caressed the etched soul "David R.
Kink"
Talking to herself…no, her dear brother
Who went off to War, Vietnam, fighting for
Peace
Hiding tears from his eight-year-old sister.
Each Veterans Day she went to see her brother
The black granite
The green pasture
The dew that blanketed the night.
She brought a flower for David’s Birthday
A whole world she had for her brother
She held him in her heart
He was born on the Eleventh of November…
Linh Duy Vo
Autumn 1997 ©
The poem was read on
Veterans Day 1997 at President Nixon Library & Birthplace by Director John
H. Taylor.
