The Wall
Maybe those who
believe
A piece of your soul
Is stolen with each
photograph taken
Are right
Reflecting back over
the years,
Looking at her
tortured face
In that static image,
I wonder. I hope not,
for my sake.
Hard to contemplate
so many stolen moments
Pieces of others’
lives captured
By my lenses, the
films’ emulsion
Now sitting in dust
covered albums, yellowed envelopes and crooked frames
She stood hunched
over, frozen
Jaw clenched and
hands knitted,
Holding or hugging
herself
Against her chill
that July.
Paralyzed by her
private pain
Writ large there in
public, on the Mall
Countless others had
and have since
Faced their own
demons
In that monument’s
polished black marble
(I have seen them)
For twenty minutes or
a little less
I watched her pilgrimage,
her prayer
A stranger motionless
that stopped me
That held my
attention
And the camera’s gaze
before me.
Me a voyeur, an
intruder, an unwelcome confidant.
She stood too near
the names
To turn away;
But her feet and legs
Couldn’t carry her
slight frame forward
To touch the past
The walkway before
her still,
I imagine, never to
be breached.
original reposted 5/31/2014
edited May 28, 2014
The Wall – v2
posted February 14, 2004
The Wall
June 22, 2001
===
edited May 27, 2014
“In the Rain, in that
Place – v3
edited May 26, 2014
“In the Rain, in that
Place – v2”
Memorial Day
November 11, 2010
“In the Rain, in that
Place”
Veteran’s Day 2010
and remembering being
at the Vietnam Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund
during the 10th
anniversary
Veteran’s Day 1992
&
edited May 27, 2014
Left at the Wall – v3
Edited May 26, 2014
Left at the Wall – v2
Memorial Day
August 5, 2006 18:05
Left at the Wall
&
All of my Veteran’s Day
poems
&
All of my Memorial Day
poems
All of my
poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001,
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014,
2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for
usage. See all 42,390+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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