Tuesday, 2 July 2013

Dolls


.



Store window, Berlin, New Hampshire: photo by Charles Steinhacker, June 1973



When the mist cleared they found themselves in the street
Dust and bits of broken glass and metal their twisting carpet
And ahead the plate glass window toward which they walked unsteadily
Reflected back at them the images they desired
Of beings they thought they loved or someday could
But when they reached out to touch the ones they had thought there
They felt only air, and hair made of frayed string, and visages of wood





Movie theatre, Berlin, New Hampshire: photo by Charles Steinhacker, June 1973

Photos by Charles Steinhacker, June 1973 for the Environmental Protection Agency's Documerica project (US National Archives)
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7 comments:

  1. Poet Red Shuttleworth2 July 2013 at 00:46

    Wonderful poem... the delight of necessary attention.

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  2. TC2 July 2013 at 03:34

    Thank you Red. Funny thing lately. The more difficult it gets to make out what's really there, the harder one finds oneself straining for a better look. Doesn't help. Can't trust the old eyes any more. They only see what they think they want to see, and what they think they want to see appears to have vanished into thin air. Walking through the ruins. About forty years ago.

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  3. vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)2 July 2013 at 11:58

    Thankfully for us your mind's eye sees more than you think it sees, my friend.

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  4. Mose232 July 2013 at 12:51

    That twisting carpet, both frayed remnant and the place for parade.

    You should always be careful of reflections.

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  5. TC3 July 2013 at 02:40

    And thank you, Vassilis and Duncan.

    That brilliant clip from M, certainly apt.

    Talking of dolls and windows -- see second photo here.

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  6. Ed Baker3 July 2013 at 11:57

    IBM, Honeywell and Columbia University had
    humungous data-strage units in very large
    hermetically-sealed, climate and dust-controlled rooms/buildings in THE SIXTIES

    I see in the news today that the USPS is now tracking, via an IBM (or other manufacturer's) device EVERY piece of mail that it handles....

    I wondeer whose computers GOOGLE is using ? Something Made in China ? and
    just what secret chips are imbedded ?

    Good thing our Feds are spying on them.... and monitoring what Tom Clark and Ed Baker are saying....

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  7. Nin Andrews4 July 2013 at 05:06

    i wish there were voices like Tom's and Ed's that the Feds paid attention to.

    This poem is so powerful. I do feel like I am always looking for, reaching back for . . . air.

    I can't quite accept the level of deception around, and so I keep trying to find another way of seeing. Hah!

    ReplyDelete