I don’t go off to war, so they say,
I’m a woman.

Who then has worn my boots?
And whose memories are these,
of youth’s suffering?

I’m a woman and I’ve tasted man’s war.
Our war.
And he knows that I love in no greater way
than to share in his life or his death.

What are the rules?
Man or woman,
we are prey to suffer and survive together.

Please don’t forget me.
I’ve been through war’s hell and if only you will listen,
I’ve a story of those chosen to sacrifice for us all.

©1983, Diane Carlson Evans, Vietnam 1968-69
Chair & Founder, Vietnam Women’s Memorial Project, Inc.