Yesterday I taught a class at in the Emery Center surrounded by the Talking Walls illustrations. I began the class by asking Cathy Wimet’s students what they thought the number one question people have asked me about my book Talking Walls. A student asked me if the question is about where I got the idea for the book. I said yes and told them the inspiration is right here and will tell you all about it. Doug Rawlings, who worked at UMF for over 25 years, talked to the students about his work with Veterans For Peace http://www.veteransforpeace.org/ and told the students the story behind his poem The Wall, the inspiration for my book. He read the poem and invited students to write letters to the wall as part of project begun in 2015 http://www.veteransforpeace.org/pressroom/news/2015/04/10/writing-wall-join-our-memorial-day-letter-writing-campaign. I told the students that I heard Doug read his poem at an assembly at Cony High School and right after he read it an idea popped into my head and I turned to my friend Elizabeth and told her that I just thought of an idea for a book about walls around the world and the stories they tell!
The Wall
Descending into this declivity
dug into our nation’ s capitol
by the cloven hoof
of yet another one of our country’ s
tropical wars
Slipping past the names of those
whose wounds
refuse to heal
Slipping past the panel where
my name would have been
could have been
perhaps should have been
Down to The Wall’ s greatest depth
where the beginning meets the end
I kneel
Staring through my own reflection
beyond the names of those
who died so young
Knowing now that The Wall
has finally found me \endash
58,000 thousand-yard stares
have fixed on me
as if I were their Pole Star
as if I could guide their mute testimony
back into the world
as if I could connect all those dots
in the nighttime sky
As if I
could tell them
the reason why
DISCOVER YOUR WORLD 