Wichita Vortex Sutra
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... Kansas! Kansas! Shuddering at last!
as the western Twang prophesied
thru banjo,
accept my tears as yours to harvest
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American Eagle beating its wings over Asia
million dollar helicopters
Has anyone looked in the eyes of the dead?
Communion of bum magicians
three five zero zero on the other side of the planet
caught in barbed wire, fire ball
Is this the land that started war on China?
the awesome poem writ by the train
across northern Kansas,
When a woman's heart bursts in Waterville
a woman screams equal in Hanoi -
All we do is for this frightened thing
we call Love, want and lack -
Future speeding on swift wheels
straight to the heart of Wichita!
Many another has suffered death and madness
in the Vortex from Hydraulic
to the end of 17th - enough!
February 14th, 1966
c Copyright Allen Ginsberg
Published with the kind permission of The Wylie Agency
Originally published in Planet News and later Selected Poems 1947 - 1995 (Page 160 for the complete poem)
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Credits:
1. Soldiers of the U.S. First Air Cavalry Division point their weapons at villagers whom they flushed from the brush along the riverbank. Photo by Dana Stone 1966 (UPI) cc
2. Vietnamese Air T-28 Skyraiders, flown by U.S. Air Force pilots, drop napalm on Viet Cong targets. Photo by Larry Burrows 1962 (Life) cc
3. As Yankee Papa 13 approaches the landing zone, Crew Chief James Farley opens fire with his M-60 machine gun. Photo: Larry Burrows, 1965(Life) cc
4. An ammunition dump struck by a shell explodes in front of U.S. Marines. This pictures was on the cover of Newsweek on March 18, 1968. Photo by Robert Ellison, 1968. cc
5. Questioning a suspected Vietcong Photo:The Byrd Archives cc
6. AR 18 cg pd
7. Burning Viet Cong base camp My Tho Vietnam. In the foreground is Private First class Raymond Rumpa, St Paul Minnesota C Company 3rd Battalion 47th Infantry, 9th Infantry division with 45 pound 90mm recoiless rifle 04/05/1968 Source: US Archiv ARCWEB pd
8. CG 1847 cg pd
9. 101st Airborne Division Source: US Army-history images pd
10. Khe Sanh under fire Photo: The Byrd Archives cc
11. An M4 Sherman tank at the Imperial War Museum London UK Source:GurraJG No C
12. Grenade 6604 GNU
13. UH1-D helicopters in Vietnam pd
14. Da Nang, Vietnam Sergeant Robert E. Fears clears an area using his flamethrower 05/22/1970 NARA No C
15. Two nurses talking to a patient Saigon South Vietnam NARA No C
16. Vietnam Private First Class David Sletter, medic, Company B 1st Battalion 27th Infantry, 25th infantry Division, paddles a three man assault boat down the canal toward a breaking point during Operation Thong Thang 05/13/1968 NARA No C
17. Photograph of Napalm bombs exploding on Viet Cong structures south of Saigon in the Republic of Vietnam, 1965 NARA No C
18. Photograph of small girl receiving medical aid 01/30/1968 GNU
19. 44 Magnum GNU
20. US riverboat using napalm in Vietnam from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/image: US_riverboat_using_napalm_in_Vietnam.jpg
21. M11 9mm GNU
22. A U.S. Air Force HH-3 helicopter crewman fires a mini-gun during rescue patrol over South Vietnam 10/17/1968 NARA No C
23. Marine Corps flame thrower Source: US Archiv ARCWEB pd
24. Iraqi boys giving peace sign Baghdad Christiaan Briggs GNU
25. Vietnam War protesters 1967 Wichita Kansas Source: US Archiv ARCWEB
26. Photograph of a man protesting at the Vietnam War Moffet Field 1971 GNU
27. Flower-Power Bus Author: Johannes Aubele august 2004 pd
28. Paris peace talks - Vietnam peace agreement signing pd
29. Photograph of Marines carrying wounded NARA No C
30. My Lai. Among the hundreds of unarmed civilians massacred by U.S. soldiers on march 16th, 1968. Online source: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mylai/trial08.jpg
31. Helicopters in South-Vietnam 1969 pd
32. Dropping Loran bombs Vietnam Source: US Archiv ARCWEB
33. Photograph of three soldiers eating and writing NARA No C
34. A Vietnamese woman weeping over the body of her husband NARA No C
35. Photograph of a propaganda poster NARA No C
36. President Lyndon B Johnson in Vietnam with General William Westmoreland in Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam 12/23/1967 NARA No C
37. Grenades GNU
38. M61 Fragmentation Grenade GNU