Asian Darkness: The Vietnam Memoirs is a collection of 100 poems about the Vietnam
War. The author pointedly states that
this work was meant “to confront, and passionately record and expose in verse, the myriad of issues and disparate events that dominated the American landscape and psyche during our nation’s most turbulent years.” He also says that if there is a central theme of these pieces it is “that
war is hell, that there is no substitute for victory, and that those who gave in part or whole the last full measure of devotion should not ever be forgotten”. Asian Darkness: The Vietnam Memoirs is full of haunting images and the intense emotions of those that fought in this war. There is pride, camaraderie, courage, and remembrance of deep terror that only such situations can create. However, there is also confusion, frustration, and anger that such sacrifice, duty, and valour was dismissed as a dirty secret that no one wanted to talk about.