LONG TRIP OUT

he's been out there soldier-in for a

fascist state, so don't ex-

pect too much fun on the

very first date, he'll be

missin the life, he'll be

missin the food, he'll be

goin around in this pe-culiar mood, wond'rin

how did he get back here in the World

with the freaked-out hippies and the

dopesmokin girls, and it's a

long trip out, from the Ia Drang Valley,

it's a sad bad ride, when you're far away

from the good ol' boys you left behind in-country,

where the only thing you want is

just another day . . .

well it may sound to you like a custom exhaust,

but that ain't what he's hearin and he's

flashin back, lost in the

middle of a night full of fire and fear, and he

don't even know who

he's hangin with here, and that

joint you been smokin that you thought would help

it's just makin things worse, you're even

foolin yourself, 'cause it's a

long trip out, from the Mekong Delta . . .

it's a last lost chance, when you need a friend,

and you're flyin on out of

Cam Rahn Bay at midnight,

and you won't know how to

get back home again.

~~~ from the novel Inherent Vice, by Thomas Pynchon