Under the Helmet

Statement:

“To sigh”

That beautiful picture

Which is formed on the helmets

Reminds the road of heads

Who sighed for the war

Death did not kill the helmet

It killed you

While walking on the Peace Island

In your dream

Tibor Baan

Under the Helmet

Every time the war finishes, people mourn for the martyred soldiers. They make memorial plaque and statues. They carve the soldiers’ name on the stone in order to remember their courage. When I was a child, our house in Hungary was near the forest. I was playing with children at the time, when I was paused in front of a grave. It was a small hill with a wooden cross on the top. A metal helmet was laid on the cross. Later, I was found that the grave belonged to a German soldier who passed away in the place and was buried there. The grave was full of grass and wild flowers. The birds were singing over there. In my childhood world, I was thinking of the soldier who died in the forest. Under the helmet, what was he thinking about in the last moment? Was he thinking of his mother, his love or a happy moment in summer time? How he passed his last moment? We are the witnesses of both Iran-Iraq war and Europe war. My grandfather had seen the World War I and II and I was born in the World War II. These helmets remind me those moments. I did not mind thinking of the death of soldiers after they reminded their last seconds, so I painted happy moments of life on the helmets.

Gizella Varga Sinai