Survival
by 
joanie
|
Posted: Saturday, December 3, 2005 Word Count: 81 Summary: I just received a Christmas card from my uncle, well into his 80's, the last remaining brother of 13 children. He enclosed a photo of himself in Brisbane hospital, having been hit by a Kamikase bomber in the Philippines, during the war. It's funny how one is compelled to write something, whatever it is, at times! |
They are an old man's feet,
held awkwardly
beneath the scant dressing gown
over striped flannelette pyjamas.
They could not support him
long enough
for the photo to be taken
even in the Australian sunshine.
The quiff is his statement
of a fashion
still in its infancy, barely
alive at this other end of the world.
The starched white cap and cape,
the watch pinned
upside-down, the white laced-up shoes,
will work to send this tender soldier back
to his family.
held awkwardly
beneath the scant dressing gown
over striped flannelette pyjamas.
They could not support him
long enough
for the photo to be taken
even in the Australian sunshine.
The quiff is his statement
of a fashion
still in its infancy, barely
alive at this other end of the world.
The starched white cap and cape,
the watch pinned
upside-down, the white laced-up shoes,
will work to send this tender soldier back
to his family.