Before I shipped out, someone told me that

there are no wolves or winters, that syrup

pours from the palms and coconuts are packed

sugar, that hurricanes thrill the women,

that the girls do not limp or resemble

potatoes, that ants and flies crawl away

from you, that green lobsters and prostitutes

exceed rice and wives, that the enemy

has no hands and that our captains cannot

command any attacks, that camp is a

palace, and that our comrades have gladdened

and no longer hang themselves in the plants

and my experience confirms this and

the humidity is unbearable.