CHILD'S PLAY IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN
X
I Cannot Say Now
I cannot say now
whether the vision
of a captive man
standing up against a stake
in the sun’s relentless glare
that lives in my mind's eye
while he waits
and I wait
and we,
my mother and the others gathered there
by guards
who make us stand and stare
at the hooded figure bound
on cemetery ground
waiting
all of us waiting
waiting for the end
of waiting,
my mother's dress moving with a breeze
the figure before us standing still
his hooded head held high
when my mother pulls my face
into the fabric of her frock
and I hear a sharp crack
or maybe there are three
as I struggle hard to free
my head so that my eyes can see
and I see the figure now
slumped from the stake
and hanging forward toward the ground
with hooded head hanging down
while everyone is silent...
I cannot say now
whether this recurring vision
was event burned into memory
or something manufactured
over time
and a life of recollection.
X
I Cannot Say Now
I cannot say now
whether the vision
of a captive man
standing up against a stake
in the sun’s relentless glare
that lives in my mind's eye
while he waits
and I wait
and we,
my mother and the others gathered there
by guards
who make us stand and stare
at the hooded figure bound
on cemetery ground
waiting
all of us waiting
waiting for the end
of waiting,
my mother's dress moving with a breeze
the figure before us standing still
his hooded head held high
when my mother pulls my face
into the fabric of her frock
and I hear a sharp crack
or maybe there are three
as I struggle hard to free
my head so that my eyes can see
and I see the figure now
slumped from the stake
and hanging forward toward the ground
with hooded head hanging down
while everyone is silent...
I cannot say now
whether this recurring vision
was event burned into memory
or something manufactured
over time
and a life of recollection.