In Memoriam
The field of names seems
to stretch for miles. The distance
from one end to the other
is more than she can measure.
The names are more than she can count.
She remembers handing in the paper
with its hair-in-the-drain signature:
a form allowing her to board
the familiar yellow bus
for the second time that morning.
She remembers the crack in her seat;
how she squirmed for the entire
stomach-rolling ride;
how she sank further and further
into the cotton stuffing; sharp,
peeled-back corners of the leather
digging deep into her leg
as the streets and trees outside blurred by.
Now, as she stands before the wall, untamed
wisps of blonde hair tickling her cheek,
she wishes she were back on that bus.
Or back in the classroom.
Or warm at home.
Or anywhere but here.
Her grandfather, she has been told,
is somewhere on this wall.
A man she has never met.
A man she never will meet.
A man who wasnât there
for birthdays and Christmases
and Easter Sunday dinners.
A man who never gave her anything
to remember him by.
There is a heaviness here
she lacks words to describe.
Miss Stevens shows them
how to make a rubbing. The students
immediately begin snatching at art supplies,
squabbling over who gets what color crayon
and how many.
But one girl hangs back, squinting
at the wall, taking in each name,
searching, searching
for the familiar set of letters spelling out
the only connection she has
to a stranger.
Only when the other children are already
furiously scrubbing at their own papers
does she step forward.
She will remember this day, years
from now. Walking the length
of the dark wall. Finding the name sooner
than sheâd hoped. White on black,
just like the others.
She will remember this moment: reaching out
for her grandfatherâs name; reaching up
to a height she would someday attain;
rubbing a pink crayon over a piece of paper,
watching the familiar white letters appear.
© Elizabeth Alford 2015
Response to our Inspiration Call on November 18, 2015
www.facebook.com/Creativetalentsunleashed
Photo Credit: © FreeImages.com
