Through sonnets and a long sequence, the poems of Two Open Doors in a Field are constructed with deliberate limitations, restlessly exploring place, desire, and spirituality.

From 1945 to 1973, more than 100,000 members of the U.S. military were advisors in Vietnam. Of these, 66,399 were combat advisors. Eleven were awarded the Medal of Honor, 378 were killed and 1393 were wounded. Combat advisors lived and fought with South Vietnamese combat units, advising on tactics and weapons and liaising with local U.S. military support. Bob Worthington's first tour (1966-1967) began with training at the Army Special Warfare School in unconventional warfare, Vietnamese culture and customs, advisor responsibilities and Vietnamese language. Once in-country, he acted as senior advisor to infantry defense forces and then an infantry mobile rapid reaction force. Worthington worked alongside ARVN forces, staging operations against Vietcong and North Vietnamese Army units, and coordinated actions with the U.S. Marines. He describes a night helicopter assault by a 320-man ARVN battalion against a 1,200-man NVA regiment. On another night, the Vietcong ceased fire while Worthington arranged a Marine helicopter to medevac a wounded baby.

Alfredo Gomez, the greatest boxing hero ever to come from Mexico, wonders why two of his most promising boxers are not showing up at his gym. It turns out the two young men have given up boxing in order to travel down the Trail of Death, the notorious cocaine trail that leads from northern Mexico into Texas. Alfredo decides to disguise himself as a poor migrant worker and travel down the Trail himself. But Alfredo gets more than he bargained for. At the end of the Trail, he meets a graying middle-aged alcoholic United States senator, Senator John Henry Longfellow from Texas--the last living witness to the conspirators as they planned the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.