Colonel Ironarm

Ah yo fahnilly done with dem two? The man stood just off the path and asked me this question as if we had been friends for years. He spoke with a southern twang, as if the words from Zora Neale Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God sprung up off the pages and drifted into the cold air that stood between us. I looked around to make sure he was speaking to me. I had just finished an engagement session and parted ways with the couple, and while I noticed the homeless man watching me throughout the shoot, I didn’t think he would stop and talk to me.

Yes, I’m finally done with them! We had such a great time.
Then, out of nowhere, he asks, Yo wahna be mah screen savah? Here, lit meh sho yo… The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone. He asked again if I wanted to be his screen saver. I agreed only on the condition that I’d be able to take his picture as well.

So there we stood. Two strangers from very different worlds capturing each other through the same medium.

In his shopping cart were blankets and clothing and what I assume are the only things belonging to his identity. I asked him his name. Mah name’s Colonel Ironarm, he said with a proper salute, leaving his right arm diagonally extended just long enough for me to know he had plenty experience saluting. He went onto to explain that he served in the Navy during Vietnam and, he guesses, fell onto some hard times when he got back to the States. We spoke for a few minutes. Once the rain began to fall a little harder, I said I better get going. I fished for whatever cash I had and told him to get something hot to eat. He thanked me profusely then said, Ah nevah got yo name…was yo name? I told him my name and said it was honor to shake a man’s hand who defended this country with honor.

When I finally got to my car, I shook the rain droplets from my hair, but had a harder time shaking off the sense of melancholy that rested so heavily on my shoulders.

I usually keep this blog politics free, but I just want to remind people the next time you see a soldier or a serviceman, be sure to thank them. Regardless of the issues belying the war in Iraq, there are women and men who are fighting to protect and reserve our freedoms to both support and oppose the war. What a beautiful thing.

Colonel Ironarm, even though you’ll never read this, thank YOU for your service to this country…