Girl on a Boat
By Lander VerHoef
I came with my camera to tell the tale of the war, or so I
thought. I stood on the dock as the boat pulled alongside. A young Vietnamese
girl, perhaps eight or ten stood just across the rail from me, and I was caught
by her eyes. They were old, older than a child's, older than mine, older than
imagining. Those eyes had seen...
But whatever they had seen, I saw only myself reflected in them,
a young white man in fancy shoes, a shirt soaked with sweat, and an expensive
camera. And in those eyes was a question, and an accusation: "Why are you
here?" I discovered that I had no answer, so I raised my camera and hid.
But every day since I took that photo, I look at it and the young girl's old
eyes ask me "why are you here? Why are you here? Why are you here?"
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