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Open Poetry #34
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I Hate This Picture
| Open Poetry #34 |
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I Hate This Picture |
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SPIRIT Senior Member
since 2002-12-29
Posts 1745California Desert |
 I HATE THIS PICTURE! Whose memory is this that sits shattered, on a dumping ground in the California Desert. It is an acknowledgment that this soldier paid his dues, for his country. A minimal gratuity yet it renders a motion that this man honestly and faithfully gave of himself for the many. He was proud of it, took it home, bought a frame for it, and possibly had it hung in a place of honor within the walls of his home. So why is it here, discarded… behind broken glass, fading in the strong sun and severely weathered …to imperfection. Is it the mirror image of a man’s being… Is it a life wasted, transitioned, forgotten. Does this existence no longer matter, to anyone that it was of importance to. I passionately dislike this picture… but it reaches out with invisible fingers and touches me. It forces me to feel and face the reality, that so many have laid themselves on the line that I might live in a world worth living in. I just don’t know whose memory this is that sits shattered, on a dumping ground in the California Desert… but I will hold it as valued, and I will not forget. |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Thank you! |
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SPIRIT Senior Member
since 2002-12-29
Posts 1745California Desert |
Thank you - my son took the picture and it touched me. |
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SEA 
Moderator
Member Seraphic
since 2000-01-18
Posts 22676with you |
did he pick it up, or leave it there? I don't know what I would have done with it myself...how sad that it was thrown away like that...I am so proud of those that serve, I have many in my own family that have and are currently. I think I would have picked it up  |
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JL Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128Texas, USA |
You pierced my heart, and drew a tear. These memories are truly needed by the family. I hope the family can be found. Great write, and for me a keeper for sure! JL |
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SPIRIT Senior Member
since 2002-12-29
Posts 1745California Desert |
Thank you for reading and commenting I appreciate it very much. It was on private property, the owner collects all the throw aways from unpaid storage sheds, he appears to have his own agenda as to what happens to the items that litter his grounds. He was kind enough to let my son and a friend go in and take a few pictures. |
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Huan Yi Member Ascendant
since 2004-10-12
Posts 6688Waukegan |
Summer grasses— all that’s left of warriors' dreams. Basho |
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Mysteria
since 2001-03-07
Posts 18328British Columbia, Canada |
I remember going to get my father's things in a storage shed that held them. I saw things that would make you cry in the bin there as I did discard things of no value before sending things that could be used to the Salvation Army. Obviously relatives discard "memories" like so much garbage. Makes you wonder if you should retrieve them and find an owner that would care, or just leave them be. So sad. I even buy things like this at flea markets so they have a "home" at least. Nice to see you writing again Spirit. |
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passing shadows Member Empyrean
since 1999-08-26
Posts 45577displaced |
so touching, yes |
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Martie
Moderator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-09-21
Posts 28049California |
Spirit Thank you for posting this. Now that photo is appreciated. I've been in antique stores or thrift stores, even garage sales, where photos were for sale...families from long ago, held together by a camera for an instant. It seems so sad that they be so neglected. Good to see you again!  |
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stevebrklynnyc Member
since 2004-01-04
Posts 292GA, Camden |
This person is not forgotten. Yes the honorable discharge lying in the dirt may be, but the soul who earned it is not! God, pictures like this just makes my blood boil. Great write. |
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Marge Tindal
since 1999-11-06
Posts 42384Florida's Foreverly Shores |
SPIRIT~ How this touches me ... so sad that something like this couldn't have been traced to the owner's family~ Thank you~ I am the proverbial 'buyer of other folks legacies' ... It would have come home with me !  *Huglets* ~*Marge*~ ~*When the heart grieves over what it has lost, |
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SPIRIT Senior Member
since 2002-12-29
Posts 1745California Desert |
Thanks for responding - if I had been there when my son took the photo I would have got it home somehow with me. I have tried to magnify the name enough to read it - but no dice. I did find out about the Brigadier General Briggs who signed it. My son saw it as a 'good' picture subject other than that really thought not to much about it. I asked him to take me to this out of the way place in the boonies, but he could not pinpoint it again. Not for lack of trying that I did not retrieve it. If that was laying around I was very curious to see what else might be found to give/find a home for. |
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Susan Member Ascendant
since 2004-03-27
Posts 5104walking the surreal |
The symbolism of this picture is not lost upon those of us who recall men and women who served and then were forgotten - lost - this photo and your poem are a poignant reminder of the way men and women of the armed services should be considered - thanked - not discarded - Excellent -  SusanHappiness isn't something that happens to you, it's created from within you. Joy is a state of mind. |
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