message from greenman
Feb 1, 2010 · 2 comments
he writes. greenman. deep deep in country. village to village. they know of him. long before he foots carefully. down alleys. mud walls 12 feet high. through dusty lanes. patrols.
“my Pashto is good. I speak it all the time. yesterday tea with X, the district king. he offers me cigarettes. booze. I just laugh. tell jokes about my friends in Pashto. now I don’t want to leave.”
my relief for greenman. that this which he dreaded, 3rd tour, is better, much better, the best. my relief he’s whole. keeps his humour.
he’ll be on HLTA. away from it soon. promises he’ll call. I want him to speak his 2nd language to me again. Pashto, like butter on the tongue. a language willing to sit, drink endless cups of tea in the shade. out of the hot Afghan sun.
2 Comments
I hear pure exhaustion (“now I don’t want to leave”).
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The page you're reading contains a single diary entry entitled message from greenman. It was posted here on February 01, 2010.
Douglas Hill
I very much like the soft sensuality of “Pashto, like butter on the tongue. a language willing to sit, drink endless cups of tea in the shade.”
Feb 02 2010 · 06:28