The war is two years over. The tide is out,
and the beach clear of detritus except
for part of an upended landing stage,
like a leviathan’s jaw, in a pool.
Beside it there are four small children,
who are playing the serious, absorbing games
the very young play with wet, fugitive sand.
The photographer, whose parents were murdered
by the Nazis, was killed by machine gun fire
near the Suez Canal. He photographed
Ingrid Bergman with a dove, and Picasso
with ‘Guernica’; covered the Spanish
Civil War, and the founding of Israel.
'Guernica'David SeymourIngrid BergmanIsraelNazisOmaha BeachPicassoSpanish Civil WarSuez Canal
John Huddart
December 18, 2021Thanks again, for bringing the detail of a life and the content of many conflicts into focus, and contrasting it with children playing so close to the instruments of war.