Term 2 HBL Task 1

Rainbow Death
Hubert Wilson

America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.

Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray!


During the Vietnam War, between 1962 and 1971, the United States military sprayed 20,000,000 gallons of chemical herbicides and defoliants in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, as part of Operation Ranch Hand. Agent Orange is the code name for one of the chemicals used. The program's aim was to defoliate forested and rural land, depriving guerrillas of cover; as well as to force peasants to move into the city as they would not be able to support themselves in the countryside, thus weakening the rural support base of the Viet Cong.

According to the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 people being killed or maimed, and 500,000 children born with birth defects. Children affected have multiple health problems, including cleft palate, mental disabilities, hernias, and extra fingers and toes. High levels of dioxin were found in the breast milk of South Vietnamese women, and in the blood of U.S. soldiers who had served in the Vietnam War.

The poet, Hubert Wilson, is a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. In 1970, he was assigned to Shemya Island as an intelligence analyst, where Agent Orange was used extensively. After 20 to 30 years since the initial exposure to the toxin, his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian-type tremors, severe headaches and progressive limb pains. Due to his mobility issues and that his brain is still functioning well, he decided to turn to writing.


References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agent_Orange
http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html