17_Touch Me

　　Touch Me

Touch Me is a soliloquy（独白）composed by Hank Miller 1, about the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. also known as “The Wall”. This monument is one of the most visited sites in the city of Washington.

-----By Hank Miller

(California professional photographer, freelance writer, former Naval 2 Aviator 3, and a Vietnam veteran)

Touch me. Don’t be afraid. I can’t hurt you. Go ahead and touch my smooth surface. Feel the cold, glass-like smoothness and the crevices 4 and lines that make me what I am. Use both hands if you wish. We are more similar than you dare to believe.

Touch my face. Yes, I have a face like yours. It has weathered the centuries as yours has the years. My face portrays 5 my evolution. Yours, the birth and death of a generation. My face has aged 6 like yours as we have endured together the testimony 7 of earth elements.

I have eyes like yours. My inscriptions 8 stare out at you as I search for the meaning of why we are here. I look into your eyes and see who you are. Who am I? I was formed millions of years past and now you see the results of my evolution.

I can feel your hands and the sweat from your palms flow into the countless 9 combination of the letters that make me. I know you. I have known you since I was able to breathe in the air as my smoothness began to take shape and my color matured along with natural flaws. You have known me since the days when you came to take me from my mother.

You cannot hear me. I am static and unmoving. But, I can hear your murmurs 10 and your cries of pain and sadness. Your sons and daughters ask why? There are no answers. I am very old. I have seen everything and I am none the wiser for the pain and suffering and I have witnessed since I rose from the bowels 11 of the earth. I have witnessed the conflict, the death, the civilizations, and the societies that have come before you. Yet I remain mystified about this day.

I feel sad yet alive with a purpose. I have come to know those who are now an integral part of the reason for my being here at this place and time. That purpose has become apparent as I stand before you on this day while your brethren gather to witness my reflections and the changes of light that mirror your soul.

I am a reflection of you…

I am all of you…

I am your spirit..

I am The Wall.

抚摸我

抚摸我吧。别害怕。我不会伤害你，来吧，抚摸我光滑的皮肤。感觉玻璃般的冰冷与光滑，以及其中的裂缝和刮痕，感受我的存在。如果你愿意，请用双手抚摸吧。我们的相似之处将超越你的想象。

抚摸我的脸。没错，我有着和你一样的面孔。我的脸随着时代的变迁而风化，如同你的脸随着岁月的流逝而逐渐苍老。我的脸展示了我的世纪进程。你的，则描绘了一生的沧桑曲折。当我们一起忍受了尘世中风雨的考验时，脸上也被刻下了岁月的痕迹！

我有着和你一样的眼睛。我的碑铭注视着你，仿佛在寻找生命的意义。让我透过你的双眼看看你是谁。而我又是谁？我已生存了数百年，你看到的是我最终的演变。

我可以感觉到你的双手，汗水从手掌流入数不清的碑文的缝隙。我认得你。从我可以呼吸，从我开始成型，从我的色彩在风的侵袭下而越变浓烈时，我就认识你。你也早已认识我，当你带我离开母亲时。

你听不到我的声音，因为我是静止的。但我却听到了你的低声诉语，你的痛苦哀号。你的子女们问“为什么？”这没有答案。我已经老了。我看到了一切。但我承认面对自己所目睹的苦难沧桑我并不是一个智者。我目睹了战争、死亡、人类文明，还有你不曾经历的人类社会，但我至今依然困惑不解。

我感到悲伤，却清楚地感受到自己存在的目的。我渐渐了解那些刻在我身上的名字，是他们让我有了存在的理由。今天，当你们围聚在我身边，看那些名字在我身上的反射，而光线的变化也折射出你们的灵魂——我越发清楚我存在的目的。

我是你的映像……

我是你的全部……

我是你的灵魂……

我就是那面墙……