Traitor Poem by Nancy Terrell

TRAITOR - written at Peg Legs in the company of Anyna when learning that her husband, Chip, is staying at Robert McNamara's house while in D.C.1995

He could have made a difference
in the history of our country
a traitor to his inner beliefs.
Now he confesses.Now! Two and one half decades later.
"The war was wrong- I knew it at the time.
But don't you understand? ? ? ?
I had to go along with the game, with the decisions"

AND ULTIMATELY, WITH THE DEATHS!

Come to me my friend, with sparkle still soft in your eyes.
Adventure on your mind, the sensuality of open lips.
Come to me your good spouse, Chip, your smile of belief,
easily mixing with the morals of ever changing gods.
Do not tell me that you consort with this man.
This Mephistopheles of America.
Do you not know?Where have you been?
Did Kenya, India, and the UK
keep you from the truth?

Do not look with accepting eyes
at this man who,
with his "knowingness"
could have saved thousands of lives.
Did his subjection make him a hero?
Do his truths now lessen the pain?
Sorry my friend.A man knowing wrong, and
still choosing it, has a special name.

And what of the displaced millions?
Soldiers strewn across foreign soil.
Families torn apart for decades.
How wearily we continually protested
knowing Vietnam was wrong.
Despised by the majority of our country.
Don't give me your la-te-das
or tell me that you're sorry.

Discrepancy.Caring more abouthierarchy,
of what the leaders thought.
Wrong decisions made, with a shrug of the shoulders.
The senselessness of the Pentagon.
The economic disaster of the World Bank.
Because of this, I chose to leave my country?