“Berlin Wall”

by Alan Cook

Over and under and through the Wall they came, 

parched with a thirst they couldn’t quench.

 Tunneling, flying, leaping, crawling, hidden

 in car seats and carts, determined to wrench

 themselves free from tyranny’s stench.

   Oppressed, tortured, imprisoned, shot—

 still the thirsty would not could not be denied.

 The spring of freedom beckoned, so close, so far;

 yards, feet, nay inches away they died—

 and friends and loved ones cried.

 Some made it! a baby hidden in a bag in a cart;

 desperate men who leapt on a moving train;

 a hollow car seat, tunnels, boats,

 a makeshift glider, balloon and plane;

 putting an end to the thirst and pain.

  And then one day, one wonderful day,

 they hammered and shattered and tore down the Wall!

 Thirsting, singing, shouting, laughing, hugging,

 chunk by chunk they watched it fall—

 and the terrible thirst was quenched for all.

“Berlin Wall”

Where were you when the Berlin wall
came tumbling down
What did you feel
during the demise
Did you see the memories
forever stained with blood
of relatives whose dreams
were never realized

It’s a heavy price to pay for freedom
It’s a heavy price to pay for peace
It’s a heavy price to pay
when you have to fight for your release

Did you hear the falling stone
like shiny marching boots
Pounding on the inside of your head
Did the tears of triumph
slide across your face
the wall of so much hatred finally dead

All the massacres
and the concentration camps
Finally the wall is coming down
Faces full of wonder
hope and doubt
The lines were drawn
by faith and misery

©Michael Frazier, November 21, 1996