Frank Barry Smith, now retired and living in Washington state, served as a combat medic in the Vietnam war. This collection of poetry–written mostly while in Vietnam–chronicles first and foremost the friendships made and lost during war time. I have made friends and lost them / in ways more quickly than some / but less than others… Smith writes in THE MIDDLE, ironically the book’s final poem. POP SMOKE & PRAY is a book of memory, a book of fear, a book of observation, a book of confusion and youth and a time that seemed to go at lightspeed while the long days still dragged into even longer nights; but, most importantly, POP SMOKE & PRAY is a book about love and its ability to remain and be found in the worst situations. Frank Barry Smith studied poetry under Philip Levine, Robert Mezey, and John Logan.