Answer :
The poem "Small Pain In My Chest" was written in 1983 and has been published in many magazines and is also included in his first book BALLADEER - The poetry of Michael Mack .The poem was occasioned by the fact that Michael Mack was a Vietnam veteran.The phrase "asian dirt"in the poem refers to the viet nam war .Interesting enough ,there was an american magazine that wanted to use the poem "Small Pain In My Chest"referring to the United States Civil War,so the phrase simply changed to"southern dirt ".It goes to show that it can apply to any war anywhere,as soldiers are soldiers and no matter where they are or what they are fighting for; they go through similar plight,similar fate and similar emotions