JACK BALAS, 2024; Honolulu drawing
#8, MOUTHPIECE (#2642)
India ink on paper, 12x16 inches from the 2024 TATTOO DETOUR series
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY
Text:
It was the mouthpiece he had used to play the Taps at Arlington.
Pulling it out now and looking into the ruby bell as if it were
a crystal ball brought that day back to him. There had been a
colored bugler who played the echo to his own Taps from the stand.
The Negro was a better bugler, but because he was not white he
had been stationed in the hills to play the echo. It should have
been himself who played the echo. Thinking about it all, he put
the beauty back in his pocket and folded his arms across his chest,
still waiting.
From James Jones, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY (chapter 4)