Mary Read’s Smile

Poem (audio)

Like Mona Lisa’s

I read Mary’s

It follows me

haunts me

beyond the afterimage

and I wonder as in Mona Lisa

who Mary really was

what was

behind the smile

Maybe a lover

maybe lilies

or maybe, just life

maybe nothing at all

We’ll never know

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Commentary:

It should have been that I come across Mary Read’s smile in a print or TV ad, or perhaps, it should have been that I hear mention of her name announced as “Teacher of the Year”. Instead, I heard about Mary Read, a slain victim, via a news segment about the deadly Viriginia Tech campus mass shooting in 2007.

Mary had hopes to be an elementary teacher. Also, she was deeply involved in Bible study and her Christian faith, grasped the French language well and played clarinet.

That smile of hers grabbed me right away from first glance. She looked friendly, seemed like everyone’s friend. She reminded me of a few girls with whom I went to school- was smart, pretty and nice with their stuff together to conquer the world.

Mary Read serves as a reminder to take a moment to focus on true victimhood— NOT dwell on mad perpetrators of crime and NOT on so many folks as of late claiming false victimhood to gain social clout.

Check out:

The VT Biography of Mary Read:

Notes she left behind and what we can learn about forgiving.

Hear about Mary Read’s
new memorial site in Annandale, Virginia.

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