Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

Sport 33: Spring 2005

Leaving the Pow Camp on the East German Coast

page 126

Leaving the Pow Camp on the East German Coast

The rabbit shivers
under a grey sky.
These men are hungry
and death is quick and kind.
The pot, having survived the kitchen
in the empty building, becomes alive
with purpose for the rabbit.
The men are quiet while it is cooking,
absorbing the aroma and its nostalgia.
They squat by the small fire
they are hollowed out but happy.
Behind them three men
keep trying to enter a room
carrying a large old couch.
It is too wide for the door,
it needs to be turned on its side
and gently manoeuvred to and fro
as if they were dancing.
But music has long since left them.
They simply walk forward to the obstacle, hit it
and then back away.
The meat is ready, they hadn't hurried this,
they had shown patience and thought,
they took the rabbit's life with care.
They all lean forward
saliva welling in their weary mouths
then drying
under the assault
of too much pepper.
It is enough this time,
to make them cry.