Time Walking

WALKING UNIONTOWN, PA.

Founded July 4, 1776

            for Byron Barrera

Past the Coal Town Saloon

with its main entrance in back

I walk under the awning

below the paintings in two windows,

woman in pony tail

with bare arms on the window sill,

blond cat beside white curtains

and flower pot in the other.

I cross to the bronze sculpture

of George "Flicker" Marshall

in whose honor the Marshall Plan

is named, making economic recovery

in Europe possible after WWII.

I stop at New Beginnings,

Mental Health Counseling for veterans,

and after returning from the day,

am told the story of the soldier's

dedication to restore lives

of wounded vets suffering moral injuries.

I walk through City Hall

and County Courthouse,

clearing security, granted permission

to photograph. I've been walking

all morning, I'm bushed,

walking backward after a full day

recording early American history

on foot. Marquis de Lafayette

himself, carved from wood

drying and cracking 250 years later.

Marquis de Lafayette.

We studied him in grade school

in a small town in rural North Dakota.

There he is. I still remember that.

Here he is carved out of wood,

he's still drying out, cracking.

I don't remember a thing he did.

Look for the shoe repair

on your way into town

there it is. I found that shoe repair.

Something happened in that shop

that changed my life.

It involved a hand-made belt

that I'm wearing this morning.

The belt is full of medicine.

It tells a story of time and justice.

The belt strengthens one's resolve.

The belt turns on history,

it's time-release

and gets to what's important

about independence.

Jim Bodeen

10-19 October 2018