| THOUSAND YARD STARE Graphite and pastel on paper, 40 x 26 in. and also as an Archival print available in multiple sizes |
This is an anti-war image of a soldier,
frozen with fear in the midst of battle.
His reflection in the water is a skeleton,
holding its arms and hands like the man
whose death it predicts. The soldier
grips his gun but cannot fire nor is he
able any longer to use his ammunition.
Instead, finished with fighting, his eyes
open wide with terror and gaze out at
nothing. That far away look in a soldier’
s eyes in the middle of war when he is
transfixed and overwhelmed is called
“the thousand yard stare.”
frozen with fear in the midst of battle.
His reflection in the water is a skeleton,
holding its arms and hands like the man
whose death it predicts. The soldier
grips his gun but cannot fire nor is he
able any longer to use his ammunition.
Instead, finished with fighting, his eyes
open wide with terror and gaze out at
nothing. That far away look in a soldier’
s eyes in the middle of war when he is
transfixed and overwhelmed is called
“the thousand yard stare.”
