I photographed this little boy, waving to the soldier at a local Independence Day parade. It illustrates iconic realism beautifully, for here you'll see a U.S. Army Jeep, ready for war, yet riding through a typical parade route, filled with families, smiles, hopes, and dreams. This brings to the awareness of the audience that no matter how peaceful a society may seem to be, as long as there is hatred in this world, there will be a need to defend against it.
A Wave
The jeep moves slowly through the parade route
and from the rear seat, a soldier sits, armed
with a rifle and a wave.
Along the side of the road,
with his mother by his side, a boy stands, armed
with a camera and a wave.
Across the road, a family looks on;
the father hoists a toddler onto his shoulders
armed with a blue balloon and a wave.
The jeep, painted in desert camouflage,
ready for war in a distant land,
now travels this country route, thousands of waves away,
past a hopeful mother, a father, a child.
The jeep's flag catches a benevolent wind in its fold,
and weaving peace through its threads, it waves.
© Jeanne I. Lakatos
