October 2001 - Nr. 10
A Thing of the Past
by Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
The child looked
With disbelieving eyes
Opened wide
At photos
Of another time.
A marble slab,
An empty room
Drenched in blood
And dismal shadows
Unreached by the sun.
The windows backlit grid
Paints crosses
Over a naked body
Abandoned by his torturers.
It looks bizarre.
"Those were the days
Of distrust, turmoil,
An era of man
Not trusting man,"
The caption read.
A smile lit up
In the tiny face.
"I’m glad I’m here
And now, without
The pain of fear."
And turned to yet
Another picture
Of smiling people
Looking trustingly into
Each others faces.
"The mind as machine
No longer exists.
As of 2000 and one
It is only used
As a creative device."
That’s what the caption
Read underneath.
And the child agreed,
Went out on the hill
And created his own
Garden of Eden.
Copyright ©2001 Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
