JUST RELEASED!
Love is a big word. It stretches beyond the romantic link most of us have with it. Poet and balladeer Michael Hills found it in an unlikely place: the land and people of Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
In Ten Thousand Miles (FolkHeart Press, 2022), he wrote about a time and place that forever changed him.
A Conscientious Objector in the 1970’s, he was frowned upon. American men who did not want to go to war were considered cowards, traitors. Those who could, dodged the draft, fled to other countries or changed their identities to avoid being to battle.
Michael Hills was sent to Vietnam during the final years of a tragic war that had taken countless lives including those of approximately 58,220 active-duty U.S. soldiers. In the years since then, many more thousands died after returning to home soil. Michael among them, was a victim of Agent Orange.
A lover not a fighter, he was stationed in Da-Nang where he drew the inspiration for this collection. “… people ten thousand miles away made for me a home and showed me that love can extend its arms half-way around the globe.”
Judith Vaughn (Poetic License Sonoma) notes, "These are not war poems. They are words that transcend the separation of peoples by race or place."
These 20 poems and Michael's photographs were his way of keeping the tender memories alive. From the epilogue:
In this book I come back
to what I left behind.
Per Michael’s final wishes, I received the poems in this e-book as well as others and his lyrics. While editing Ten Thousand Miles I felt my friend looking over my shoulder, reliving again the joys of a people and place he never found again.
For FolkHeart Press this 20-poem Kindle chapbook is a labor of love. All proceeds from sales will go to Vietnam Veterans of America, California.
Order Now: $6.99 Amazon
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