The Truth of Time
(As Told by The Pictures)
written & performed by: Frank Prem
@frank_prem
picture 1
a group
of soldiers
are hanging out
of the doors
and windows
of a moving train
leaving egypt
heading
to the western front
ready
for a stoush
a bit
of a barney
it’s time
to come to grips
with the enemy
and they’re cherry ripe
for a
blue
picture 2
dimitriy
is holding olga –
tightly –
on the platform
a blue train
is nearly ready to leave
she’ll go
to poland
across the border
dimitriy
will join his friends
in the territorials
a week
to practice
how to hold a rifle
and to learn
first aid
then away
he must forget
to be an accountant
he’s
a front-line fighter
now
picture 3
a heap of rubble –
bricks
and half-bricks
timber and concrete
and dust –
lies as a mound
among mounds
it is
a streetscape
an avenue
of homes
destroyed by artillery
a soldier
rifle
slung over a shoulder
picks his way
toward camera
there is nothing left
that might hold
use
or meaning
picture 4
the village near kyiv
is a series
of mounds
rubble
that was homes
and houses
a month or so
ago
a woman
is sifting
searching
for something –
anything –
that might
have a use
it’s all been destroyed
by missiles
and artillery
she hasn’t found
a lot
that will be helpful
***
pictures
pictures
they won’t
let me sleep
in the night
they shout at me
that we have come
full circle
and the ukraine
is in 1916
all over again
- Life and Death #65 - November 23, 2022
- Life and Death #13 - August 3, 2022
- The Truth of Time - May 11, 2022
