Unsmiling, looking neither up nor down, a grey figure against a grey background. A man most likely to be stopped at the douane.
Note the thunderous double eye-bags, the twisted mouth, the eyes that have lost all hope. Only the hair retains any sense of style.
MikeM, an intermittent visitor to Tone Deaf, asked to see it. So here, for his delectation...
Since I, like you, am looking in on this I may ask: What does it say? A face gravely affected by wars and there've been plenty: World War Two, Korea, the invasion of Suez, various skirmishes in South America, the Malayan emergency (in which this ghost figure played a tiny part), Viet Nam, the invasion of Grenada, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Ukraine. Not forgetting the Cod War involving Iceland
He's written books and some authors append a selfie in the end-papers of their works. But no publisher would see any advantage in including this!
Some faces are a sum of all their successes; this suggests a huge mound of failures. No happiness here, surely. But the gloom merchant pursued the job he wanted (and was best fitted for) for 44½ years and he's been married for 63 years.
Against all the odds.
It strikes me as having an air of quiet dignity and does not connote “a huge mound of failures.” It is a face, like that of all of us, affected by the ravages of times, and as the esteemed American broadcaster used to say, “That’s the way it is.”
ReplyDeleteThat should say, “esteemed American broadcaster, Walter Cronkite.”
ReplyDeleteDMG: I rather associate "an air of quiet dignity" with those who have just passed through the funeral director's ministrations. As for Cronkite's valediction it always seemed incomplete, lacking "but let's not ignore what might have been."
ReplyDeleteI look again and I have to be honest. Once it was an ordinary face. But now, for whatever reason, it's downright ugly. As my Grannie used to say: "Tell the truth and shame the Devil."
Style point. Since God (identifying the unique deity) seems to merit an initial capital letter, shouldn't the Master of Hades be accorded the same treatment?
Unlike ribbons, medals and silver cups, your scars cannot be kept in cupboards, polished and displayed only for special occasions. You’ve a noble face that displays the magnitude of your wisdom, endurance and accomplishments - all despite the constraints of the pose.
ReplyDeleteMikeM: Noble (more often its noun form - nobility) tends to be associated with martyrs. I'd rather not.
DeleteYeah, I think you are being more than a little hard on yourself. Would have been better if you smiled, but it's a good picture of a good man who has lived a good life.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. One should wear one's battle scars with pride and this looks like someone who has lived a great life (and still is - looking forward to a summer holiday in France with the family is not the aim of someone who has given up).
DeleteColette: This is the passport photo. already referred to. One is not allowed to smile.
ReplyDelete