Nina Goodman

Friend

Sojourner – For James

A man journeyed
From New York to the Near East and beyond
And took us with him.

To places in between and along the way
And to the places that exist between two people.
You know that place. Only you know that place.
That place between you and him
You are there now.

Just look at any photograph
And his gaze will most often be
Transfixed intently on a subject
His lip upturned slightly.
And you have been the subject of that content expression.
It didn’t only exist in photographs
It was just like that when you were in that space with him, with James.

He created that space.
And you will think of it, and sojourn there
When you notice the elegant spine of a door frame curved just so
Or see some fat cat splayed on a friend’s sofa
Or hear an unexpected Sam Cooke tune on the radio
Or come across a curious found object.
And perhaps you too will craft it into art
Or elevate its relevance simply by caring deeply about it.

It helps to be a scholar
But it has so much more meaning
When the scholar is so human.
Eyes bright
A wit that was used wisely, gently, so as to never damage a soul.
Soft and strong, with arms that aproned
And at the core, a heart, so pure.

A man journeyed
From New York to Egypt to Jordan to Mali to Yemen to China to Turkey to Iran and beyond
And took us with him
And brings us here.

Piecing together a collective photograph, right now
Where he is looking, intently, at us
As we touch each others hands
And gulp our salty breath
And hold onto our hearts, our broken hearts
To honor a heart that can never be broken.




November 2001