The Voices Project
Follow us
  • POETRY LIBRARY
  • ABOUT
  • SUBMIT
  • RESOURCES

Old Soldiers~ By Betty Kropf

11/21/2013

3 Comments

 
She did not know when she agreed to work for them. All the old man’s medals had long been hidden away, no one knew where. It didn’t matter. The condor was circling overhead.

She took the damp rag in her rough hands and lifted the tiny soldier. The tip of his rifle had a chip of missing paint. She set him down next to his comrades, 38 in all. Antiques, said the old man.

“It was inevitable,” she sighed to the lone gladiator.  But after 32 years of cleaning and sanitizing their lives, she was less willing. Also less afraid. Except when the wife stumbled about in a fog of gin. Then the accusations would begin. Videla was never your friend! He was! He used you.

She picked up the miniature cannon and wiped it clean. It had taken her 10 years to believe her boy was gone. How many nights the women in the plaza had screamed at her in her sleep, but her father screamed louder. They’ll come for you too! So she never went. But last week, when he missed breakfast, she wandered into his room and found his sweet face contorted in death. Now there was no one.

Pleased with how she had rearranged the little army, she folded her rag and called the general to inspect his troops. (Such a silly game.) Eh, Senor, what do you think? But she did not wait for an answer. Instead, her long brown arm swung out with a fury she barely knew, sending the tiny men and their weapons somersaulting through the air, smashing into windows, objets d’art, and, overall, upsetting the peace.

“I am going to the plaza now,” she said.


Author Bio:
Betty Kropf is an editor and writer who lives in Denver, Colorado. She was born in Louisiana and, from 1980-1986, resided in Lima, Peru, during the time of the Dirty War. She believes in the power of art to change the world.
3 Comments
efk2020
11/21/2013 08:31:31 am

A beautiful story about a sad time in latin history

Reply
Catherine
11/21/2013 09:47:34 pm

As great art does, this piece makes me want more. Beautifully written.

Reply
Phyllis Tyler
11/22/2013 03:47:18 am

The pain and sorrow some people cause can last forever...so sad that we have to share this earth with them.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Poet Search

    by last name

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012

    RSS Feed

Contact The Voices Project: [email protected]