Nam vets know what in the grass means. After you've read this book you'll feel the chaos and confusion of war. And know of the miracles and misery in the mud. And some fine writing.

In The Grass by Horace Coleman; 77 pages. $12 ($1.50 S&H). Published September 1995 by Viet Nam Generation, Inc. and Burning Cities Press (18 Center Road. Woodbridge, CT 06525). ISBN 1-885215-14-2; SAN: 298-2412. Edited by Kali Tal (e-mail: kalital@minerva.cis.edu); cover design by Steve Gomes; woodcut by Cedar Nordbye.

Jacket blurbs were written by Gwendolyn Brooks, E. Ethelbert Miller (Director, African-American Resource Center, Howard University) and Vince Gotera (author of _Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans_)

"The poetry of Horace Coleman is sharp and uncompromising. . . . " Brooks

"Here are poems filled with ammunition that penetrate not flesh but soul." Miller

"If he weren't writing about war's every day horrors, I might say that Horace Coleman's poems are 'refreshing." Gotera

Java At 0300

Coffee is for heating C rations cans in
and fishing them out with a bent coat hanger
shaped like a homemade abortion tool.
You drink it dark as it is outside,
so caffeine and nicotine will
keep you staggering until
it's time to sleep on a desk
for a couple of hours
while hoping the stuff
doesn't eat a hole before
booze and stress corrode your guts.
When Airman Dufuss has figured out
how to make it, we'll have more
when it's the sergeant's color.
You want sugar with that?

This book is full of soaring language dressed in words real people speak. It's made with craft that works so well you don't notice it. The fun, fear, fatigue, and joy at still being alive mingle with a sardonic and casual coolness that is philosophical. The impact is ferocious. Every poem's a short story, a photograph, or a video, packed with impact and portent.

For ordering information contact: Viet Nam Generation, Inc. and Burning Cities Press, 18 Center Road. Woodbridge, CT 06525. ISBN 1-885215-14-2; SAN: 298-2412.

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