paradise might be ok
but then again, who knows?
the young with sprite in their bellies
think heaven is like santaland where
you wear white and no one cusses 
adults know better but tell the kids
that someday they’ll go there
and see grandpa. once I was sure
Eden must be in the Mekong Delta
of 1962: beautiful beaches, ethereal 
sky, breezes right out of Life Magazine
like any paradise it soon went to hell

my Naval Times shows three cruise
lines there now. yes kids, all’s well