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      July 30, 2017Old Man Watching DunkirkAaron Brown

      When he stood
      his knees shook,
       
      shoulders bending in
      the light of the credits,
       
      letters streaming like eyes
      at a memorial
       
      scrolling names—
      those who’ve crafted
       
      a narrative we might enter.
      There aren’t many left
       
      to remind us
      never to go back.
       
      Not many left to say,
      I’ve seen what
       
      hatred can do.
      Not many like
       
      this old man
      ghosted against
       
      a fading screen—
      he was the last
       
      to leave the theater.

      from Poets Respond

      Aaron Brown

      “I wasn’t ready for the effect Christopher Nolan’s new film, Dunkirk, would have on me this weekend—nor was I ready for this scene as I was leaving the theater: an old man standing slowly, clearly affected by the film itself. As it happens, I also finished reading Elie Wiesel’s Night for the first time this week. How often do we forget that such suffering happened on our watch, nearly 80 years ago? We are not that far removed from it. In the current charged social and political climate, I wonder if there’s a lesson here. As it turns out, there were others who were similarly affected.”

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