An Ode To Berlin

A reflection of a visit to Berlin last week:

What cities give and what they take;
Each road and rock of break and make;
Where silence lasts with roaring rage;
And a lasting shadow of a man disgraced.

Where the light outside was dark;
And within the hope of freedom lay.
A place where ideas were murdered;
And obedience paid.

Like the ups and downs of the seasons' sun,
The innocent did not find a sheltering place.
For shelter needs means;
Those, your genes forbade.

So what to look for in a place so rich;
To dig deep and find the dirt;
Or see the shine, the men and women have churned.
What a city tells you, is what you hear;
Whether it broke the people; or had them made.