- Contributed by听
- perfecthamish
- People in story:听
- andrew hoellering
- Location of story:听
- in bucks, UK
- Article ID:听
- A2299953
- Contributed on:听
- 16 February 2004
The Smile
This poem is for the 大象传媒, whose international reputation for honesty and
excellence dates from this time.
Yes, I remember the platform -
The train with the two blue airmen
Talking, wrapped in a cloud of steam
- one I knew as Eric, his sister Mai
looked after me, a small, insignificant
tousled boy - only to Eric Harris I was not insignificant.
Mai kept a distance, giving the men their own space and time -
It turned out that he had little left.
Eric glanced at me, smiling, whether to his mate, or me
Or to his sister I never knew.
I think it was a private smile, registering
Us. It may have been his last smile -
He seemed to know what he was fighting for.
Mai told me later he had been shot down
In his silver reconnaissance plane over France.
His grave is unmarked -
Only the smile survives.
(c)Andrew Hoellering, 2004
In memoriam, Eric Harris
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