Remember Me

Copiright2006 Fred Olsen


Jane sits in her cylindrical duralumin tomb
The epitomy of luxury, the stewardesses loom.
Skin schulptured by Revlon, her nails she'll preen
Only two days ago you should have seen where she'd been

Rmember me

Bae Squats shivering in her leaking tatched home
The damp fog descends like a blanketing dome.
Skin weathered and burnished, nails cracked and torn,
In life's triage, it oft depends where you are born.

Remember me

Days ago their gaze met and locked on that mountain terrain
They were one, whatever transpires in the days that remain.
Bae turned to east, Jane turned to the west
One will have the least, the other the best.

Remember me

Their children will grow, at least some of them will,
They'll follow their paths for good of for ill.
a lot will depend on the fortune of birth
Sometimes its hard to believe they are on the same Earth.

Remember me

Finally Jane hits the streets of her city
Overwhelming with road rage and devoid of pity.
Both women turn to thei tasks, of whatever they are made
Sometimes I wonder if its the West that needs aid.


Note: This is Fred's s second poem inspired while on a tour of Vietnam.