Ann Margret

I saw Ann in Vietnam
Somewhere around 65 or 66

I think I even have a picture of her

She was just a far off figure on a stage
But you knew it was her for sure
There was that aliveness and energy
That was and is her special allure

But our unit was leaving
We had orders to go
We all kind of milled around
Tryin to make it deliberately slow

Not that that doesn't get you
Yelled at in the corp
Somethin about us bein sh*tbirds
And not takin anymore

Anyway
We all got into our 6 X
And I was the last to get on
Gettin in one last look
And knowin then we'd be gone

But
Something just came over me
And I half pretended to fall or slip
Right flat off the back tailgate
All for that kitten with a whip

Splat right out there in the dust
The truck slidin to a halt
The driver yellin everybody lookin
If you're hurt it's your own stupid fault

Not that it felt real good
But hell I was a young man
Doin something dramatic
For some reason I didn't understand

You could've got killed
What the hell's wrong with you
That was ironic even for a 19 year old
Considering what we were volunteering to do

****
****

I didn't know a lot about foreign policy
But I liked malts and GTO's
And man that was Ann Margret
And I at least got a glimpse of the show

And I just had to mark it
Mark it in an in country way in my mind
In some way that would stick with me
No matter how much longer the time

Man that was Ann Margret
I said with a grin
And we rumbled off down the road
To someplace else where we'd be diggin in

Man
That was

Ann Margret


Neils
3:06 pm
04/25/2003