Something there is that does not like
a wall (Robert Frost)
The writings on the wall
at Checkpoint Charlie,
now East Berliners stroll
around the Kurfurstendamn.
Lorry loads of tall graffiti
pass on slow grey slabs
as the East escapes like gas.
All is suddenly too easy,
Border-guards sniff the air
where stands the Chancellery,
so watch the wall my darlin
while the gentlemen go by,
the little man with the strawberry mark
may sometimes tell a lie.
Pyramus and Thisbe found a chink
through which they tried to peer
and sleeping on the Bundesbank
proud Europa found a bear,
Robin Goodfellow haunts unseen,
blind Titania loved a clown,
nightmare stalks the Fairy Queen.
Diplomats from everywhere
seek some ultimate bottom line,
roar like any sucking dove
and coo for the lion’s share,
the easy breathings come and gone
from this strange old world.
Who knows what’s going on?
I will give you a golden string,
Wind it into a ball,
Enter through the Brandenburg Gate
Built in Jerusalem’s wall.
Go west young man today,
Tomorrow commercial travellers
Will trot the opposite way.
©Terry Hodgson2020
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