Maybe those who believe
A piece of your soul Is stolen
with each photograph taken
Are right, at it seemed so
in this moment there at the Wall.
Reflecting back over the years,
Looking at her tortured face
In that static image,
I wonder. I hope not, for my sake
for her sake as well.
Hard to contemplate
so many stolen moments
Pieces of others’ lives captured
By lenses, the film’s 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
staring, frozen, before the Wall.
Paralyzed by her private pain
Writ large there in public, on the Mall
Countless others had and have since
Faced their own demons
staring at these names.
In that monument’s polished black marble
(I have seen them, crying, overcome)
For twenty minutes or a little less
I watched her pilgrimage, her prayer
not crossing at distance.
A stranger motionless that stopped me
That held my attention
And the camera’s gaze before me.
I was a unwitting voyeur,
her 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 stone, as she wanted.
She longed to reach out
To touch the past before her; but,
The walkway before her still,
I
imagine, these many years later
never to be breached.
edited November 11,
2014
The Wall – v3
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
are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Contact me
at Ray Foss
for usage. See all 33,470+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
No comments:
Post a Comment