Point Man
March 19, 2011 12:42 pm in Diaries by Phil Clark
Paul Decker, B 2/7, 1969
Point Man is a wonderful poem written in 1969 by Paul Decker’s late mother, Ruth Decker. It was published in the early ’80s along with several others that she wrote.
Point Man has been included in a collection of short stories, tributes, and poems entitled Heart of a Military Woman and published in 2009.
Ruth’s poem is reproduced here. It is amazing how she was able to describe the fears and apprehensions all of us experienced in Vietnam. Perhaps it was related to her own anxious moments waiting for her son to return home.
POINT MAN Sharp-nailed thorns paw at my shoulder Scratch my face, drawing blood. Armed ebony shapes loom, menacing; Dark octopi displaced and erect. Night sky lighter still than they! Should I fear? Should I welcome The shelter afforded from smaller Armed shapes, skulking, eyes piercing? I push through brush long entangled, Waiting, ears sharpened, alert to snap Of twig, unseen, broken by human foot? Or animal? Who goes there? Cold steel leveled at cold steel. Which shall discharge death? Waiting, dry gulp of throat, heart hammering! Charge!--the foolish impulse--No! Wait! Though waiting be more torture than Reckless confrontation. Ah! Hear you the sly footstep? Has he discounted human presence? Day! Where is your spotlight? Flares! Your probing glare? Breathing--close, unseen target! Now! Finger tense, benumbed, Involuntary pressure, resounding shot! Crackle and thud of body falling! Should I move--or wait? Is he solitary hunter? Aching muscles clench, Holding me still, Crouched in granite. Listen. He moves not; no comrades Come to his aid. Endless time--- Humming quiet unbroken. Cold now, accepting yonder peril, Knee after knee. Stop! Ears straining, No answering brush sound. (But where there is one may be many!) Careful! Do voices murmur forward? Turn! Retrace knee steps; Think not of fallen prey. Warning clamped behind bitten lips, I reach others like me And breathe at last! Ruth J. Decker 1969
