Once I saw a photograph <br />taken by a 71 year old <br />Japanese tourist <br />in pre-WW 2 London <br /> <br />Black and white print <br />of schoolboys with satchels <br />and shining morning faces <br />walking briskly down the street <br />to the brick building - <br />King Edward IV grammar school <br />sometime in 1939 <br /> <br />The retired entrepreneur from <br />Yokohama was touring London <br />when he happened on the scene <br />and set up his camera <br /> <br />I imagine the chalky teacher <br />in the classroom and the boys <br />scrunched over their tasks <br /> <br />I see the lads graduating in due time <br />and donning Army khaki and RAF blue <br /> <br />I see the Japanese grandfather as his <br />grandsons land on shores far from home <br /> <br />Boys from London and Yokohama <br />barely tasting manhood on foreign shores <br /> <br />They lie at peace now<br /><br />Michael Pruchnicki<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/photo-of-schoolboys/
