According to Lichtenberg
only very few people have ever seen a pure white.
L.Wittgenstein
Unfashionable hair styles, plaits, ringlets,
forty or more pale little faces,
fuzzy, overexposed. They stand
stiffly with hands folded.

Being photographed is a serious
affair. One must keep absolutely still. In 1914
no twittering bird escapes
from the black drapes of the machine.

The portrait of the Emperor with handlebar moustache
and gala uniform hangs
above the blackboard. Mother, this must be you,
centre of the third row

in your corona of blonde curls and the velvet dress
with the lace collar? You link your friend,
and look directly into the camera unaware
of a future of war, hunger and death.

I'd know you anywhere, the hesitant smile
of the six year-old, I see the pure white
of the lace among the lightless greys
and blacks that overshadow the century.