Magpie Tales: The Revenant

Photo provided by Magpie Tales.

Although he wanted to keep working, the young doctor allowed himself to be taken to an aid station near the the towers. Smoke had closed his left eye; burnt wreckage had charred his left hand. He did persuade the other rescue workers to fix him up quickly so he could get back to the rubble. At least he could be part of the triage team, he insisted.

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In English, the word revenant in Andrew Wyeth's 1949 painting refers to someone who has returned, supposedly from the dead. It comes from the French verb revenir: to return. Today, "return" made me think of rescue workers returning, from exhaustion, to the chaos of ten years ago.

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Posted for Willow's Magpie Tales

Thanks, Tess! I somehow imagine I won't be the only one looking at the Wyeth painting and thinking of September 11, 2001, but this was my first thought, so I had to go with it.

Although not a US American, I am North American, and Canada could easily have been a target on that dreadful day. As I mentioned to one blogger friend, I remember where I was (I was asleep) and what happened (a friend phoned; she told me to wake up and turn on the TV after the first plane) just as I remember where I was and what I was doing on November 22, 1963 when John F. Kennedy was shot.