Marine throwing hand grenade

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Marine throwing hand grenade*
By Christian Ward

He is a pitcher with perfect aim.
Observe it closely (not a man today
but a machine) as a rubber skinned
grenade is thrown at the other team,

exploding into a cloud of nail-grey
shrapnel. Everything stops to applaud:
ruined timbers, half broken boats,
burned out houses. Even a mustard

coloured sky has paused to find
the time to congratulate it. Freeze.
Spend an hour doing something else:
the laundry, hoover the house,

wash dishes. Anything. Ignore
the next couple of frames. You won't
see much - just a lens slowing down,
capturing humanity as it falls and burns.

*based on a photo by Don McCullin (1968)

©Copyright, 2007, Christian Ward, All Rights Reserved.
Do not reproduce in any form without prior permission of the author.