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  • After Seeing Photos of Iwo Jima
  • Joe Survant (bio)

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The baby in this photo is the author of the poem (Joe Survant), now 72, being held by his uncle (William Survant) on leave from the war. 1944.

Image courtesy of Joe Survant.

[End Page 166]

for my grandparents, and their sons

When I saw Iwo’sblack sandand Suribachi’s moonscapeI was suddenly given a giftfrom my deepest past.My father’s little brotherback from war in the Pacific,back from Iwo Jima,appearing suddenly in the dining roomwith its deep, varnished panelsand the rosewood table’s eight chairsthat made up my indoor forest.My Uncle Bill opening hisduffel bag, an olive drab Santaproducing a small Sherman tankfor a dumbstruck three year old.It was my grandparents’ houseon Walnut Streetwhere my mother and Iwaited for my fatherto come home from war.

The old basement furnace,its lungs full of coal dust,breathed its warm breathinto the room.The floor vent sighed,and my grandmother squealedwith unbearable surprise. [End Page 167]

Joe Survant
Western Kentucky University
Joe Survant

Joe Survant is a professor emeritus at Western Kentucky University where he taught modern literature and creative writing for thirty-seven years. He has published five books of poetry, most notably his narrative trilogy of the Bluegrass State with the university presses of Arkansas, Florida, and Kentucky, respectively. The first volume, Anne & Alpheus, 1842-1882, won the Arkansas Poetry Prize. Survant served as Kentucky's poet laureate from 2002-2004.

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