A Small World Indeed Poem by Kyle Schlicher

They climbed out
of the truck.

We lined them up
checking each id.

I came to a thin girl.
She handed me her id.
I looked at her birthdate,
it was 7-09-1947.
This is my birthdate
I told her.

She smiled at me
and lowered her head.

They climbed back in the truck
and the driver drove off.

I'm thinking,
It is a small world.

That girl and I
were born on the same day
and years later
we meet in Vietnam,
where she needs
my permission
to move about
in her own country.

It is a small world.

A small world, indeed.

(8-17-1968)