Richard Johnson

Richard Eric Johnson served in Viet Nam 1967-68 as an MP with the 509th Radio Research Group. He subsequently served in West Berlin 1968-70 as a German language linguist. He retired from the Marion County Sheriff’s Department as a road patrol officer in Indianapolis. Johnson has authored four books of poetry, most recently “Watching Angels Dance By Candlelight” (Loose Moose Press, 2019).

Saigon Sampan Child

by 
you know I was there
when your father died
the VC death
and you know I left
before your arrival
in this Alexandria salon
where you cut my hair

you tell me of your latest
conversations with Buddha
long letters
…