Bamboo Women Poem by Gary Corseri

(This poem was written during the Vietnam War; I think it was 1969 or 1970. I wanted to write an anti-war poem that did not scream about the horrors of war, but attempted to capture a small part of the beauty and sensitivity that was being lost; in other words, the pathos of war, and the endurability of women and children caught up in wars... It was first published in 'The Open Cell, ' and later appeared in my first full volume of poems, 'Random Descent' [Anhinga Press])