They were all that had remained from Stalin's keep
German prisoners, coming home,
blinking ghosts deposited on platform 2,
dare I say... like shit?
They had gone with banners and songs,
goose stepping,
as if the swastika had feet,
but these men were empty handed
and walked like pigeons in a park,
mincing one way and then another,
waiting for a prompt not given,
their memory
a sodden scrum,
as is and not as was,
Time lost
and wasted dreams,
the swallowed bile still tasted,
now faced with labored smiles run out of tears
kerchiefs waving as when they left.
It was a family moment that I could not turn from,
a display of fettered feeling massed
and wanting to to be let out at once;
but there was no release of balloons to message others
and lift the pall from such interred grief,
for who can dip their flag to such defeat?
Along the tracks all engines seemed to withhold their sound
to let the footsteps signature the close,
a clopping and shuffling of shoes that did not fit.
Author notes
As late as 1953, German prisoners of war were being released from the Soviet Union. I witnessed one of these final homecomings from a train window in Stuttgart. The train station, itself, still had no roof and showed other marks of the terrible bombing raids on this city.
A contest entry
- Satires of Circumstance by A60sMan.
600 points, ended November 18, 2007, 14 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - 128th Contest by Tarja.
300 points, ended December 31, 2007, 5 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Beautiful upside down Bronze contest :) by paulcreates.
1200 points, ended April 5, 2008, 19 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 20 of 20
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Wow
I felt my heart shatter as I read that. Truely awsome. Great job and good luck in the contest -
Excellent
This is a very wordly piece. So much imagery really makes this piece come together. It is a very interesting topic. Very dark, but you make it sound nearly light hearted. Very nice job and thank you for entering! -
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I did not mean for this to sound "light hearted." Actually, my own heart felt heavy. I was surprised to see the human side of my former enemy. It was the end of the grand illusion, the left overs of a nation's youth. It was, if anything, a sight of shame.
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great write so sad but true. I love this because i am a euro major and want to teach college history someday so i like this alot keep penning
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fabulous poem...your choice of words is impeccable. You are a very precise writer. the imagery is great. I too like the "goose step" to "pigeon"...it is a metamorphosis. Nice alliteration is some spots. I think maybe it was not your intention, but I actually found myself feeling sorry for the soldiers...I know, I know, not a popular sentiment, but this is how the poem moved me. It is art that can make you identify with the bad guys, right? Just look at Macbeth. Any way, well done. Going to add you to favorites and watch your writing career with interest.
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that is so true. What paulcreates said: That is quite a glimpse of what happened and what they felt and what they were condemmned to doing. I think that all those who say what happened was phony, needs to read into a little history. Life for all back then, was complete and total catastrophy!
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I think that if you watch for it, you will see "scrum" used to describe a bunching together (as in the game of rugby). I have seen it used in a few poems on this channel in the way that I used it. This was an eirie sight to see. I found this to be a powerful after taste of the entire period, regardless of who they were. I was seventeen at the time. I am impressed that you look up words you don't understand.
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Excellently told story, better yet for having been seen firsthand! I have heard very little of the German POWs return to their homeland. You give very visual descriptions of the huge change in circumstances attending their setting forth and return in the first three stanzas. Great swing from “goose stepping” to “pigeons…mincing one way and then another, waiting for a prompt not given”. Beautifully worded.
I’m unfamiliar with “scrum”, which my dictionary gives as a Rugby play, or a place or situation of confusion and racket. Were their thoughts “as is” and “as was” facing off, or muddling confusedly?
Third stanza, do I understand correctly that the kerchiefs were now waving as when they left? Only in welcome?
Very powerful line Stanza 4, “for who can dip their flag to such defeat?”
Interestingly, different accounts of WW2 POWs I have read have specified poorly fitting footgear issues.
Thank you for taking the time to preserve this powerful experience.
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Congrats on the bronze trophy. This very emotional and depressing. Everything about what happened around that time is so unbelievably almost unbearable heartbreaking. And you really captured that sadness in this piece. Thank you for entering and good luck.
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I like this poem. To me this is a very strong poem. You came across at first as if telling the story of another/others, but I like when you turned to a first person view.
Nice job!
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The second stanza of this poem was especially strong. The final stanza "stuck the landing". This piece was well deserving of gold also. Alas, I was forced into an arbitrary ranking. Thank you for sharing this portrait of history with us. It certainly captured the tone of "Satires of Circumstance" exceedingly well.
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What a piece of history...well written, enough emotion to make it evocative but far from maudlin...well done!!
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I am sure that I spilled more blood here that is noticed.
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The background is somewhat distracting,perhaps a plain background would suffice for the words themselves need no other background,they paint imagery and portray the lack of ambience well.
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I agree about the background, but I don't see how this could be a distraction from my subject. I will remove it though.
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This has much merit. The descendants of the victors of WW2 often forget the terrible sufferings inflicted on the German people by the allies: cities destroyed, thousands of civilians slaughtered, imposed starvation in the immediate postwar years. It is indeed a pity than the hypocritical judges at Nuremburg did not cast out the motes in their own flawed eyes.
One slight comment: German railway station platforms are normally numeric, not indicated by letter.
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I have not been to Stuttgart since 1953. I think that they only had two or three tracks open at the time. I don't know what their system is anymore. When I got there in 1950, all an American had to do to take a train was to show up. By 1953, the POWs had been largely fogotton. This was a retching reminder, for me, that they still existed. Thank you for verifying my story.
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Hey, thanks for your sevice, man, and this is a well written piece about the side of the war we don't hear much of. You wrote it like a story, a history, I like that. And you didn't make a judement of either side, just wrote the facts as you witnessed them, well done man. Later, AG
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This is so insperational1 And to come from someone who as actualy witnessed this event, it has much more signifigance. I really liked this. It holds a place in my heart since some of my elders have been through things in WWII and may have seen the same things you have.
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