.
The Narrows, Dells of Wisconsin: photo by Haines Photo Co., c. 1911 (Library of Congress)
Here he is riding a miniature train
and here I am, in our backyard, engaged
with my train to nowhere. Locomotive
and tender, in close-up, appear bound for
somewhere new, when seen from ground view, but a
long shot reveals the track begins and ends
in our back yard. The blanket over the
sandbox protects the sand. History
is not so forgiving as the human, sad,
common memory of time, which makes of
all effort perhaps no special shrine but
at least tries to understand it.
and here I am, in our backyard, engaged
with my train to nowhere. Locomotive
and tender, in close-up, appear bound for
somewhere new, when seen from ground view, but a
long shot reveals the track begins and ends
in our back yard. The blanket over the
sandbox protects the sand. History
is not so forgiving as the human, sad,
common memory of time, which makes of
all effort perhaps no special shrine but
at least tries to understand it.
Elbow and Narrows, Dells of Wisconsin: photo by Haines Photo Co., c. 1911 (Library of Congress)