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VIENNA: CASTLE, TOWER, SQUARE

9月 26, 2019

Photo by Dieter Scherr

VIENNA: CASTLE, TOWER, SQUARE

When you ride your bicycle
out of the emperor’s castle
along Heroes Square
towards the Ring
you see it looming above the big gate,
the anti-aircraft tower
behind Museums Quarter
in a section still used by the army.
This concrete tower
stands for reality
behind the Legoland splendour.
They are renovating the Parliament,
so the parliament sessions
are held in barracks right on the square,
temporary units.
The walls are inscribed
with human rights.
It’s a curious mixture,
that square, what it stood for,
in 1938 and before,
what it stands in for now.
We have another parliamentary election
on Sunday.

MW September 2019

标签：army, austria, bicycles, buildings, castle, city, elections, government, history, memory, museums, parliament, square, Vienna, vote, war
发表在 1938, 2010s, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 20th century, 21st century, Middle Ages, poetry, September 2019, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

KROMEŘÍŽ

6月 20, 2019

KROMEŘÍŽ

This is the most beautiful square,
the centre of this beautiful town,
wonderful concert.
Didn’t understand one word they sang,
but they were great.
Every one had a wonderful time,
rock music in Czech,
guess they have been playing together
ten or twenty years.
I’m sure it was all their own songs
and the most classic ones at the end.
People dancing, holding their children,
people getting another beer.
The square has beer and ice cream stands
and many things for everyone.
Water taps, a tent with cushions,
restaurants and cafes
on the sides.

This was a very important town
one-hundred fifty or sixty years ago.
They filmed the movie Amadeus,
no, that was later.
They had an uprising,
a constitutional assembly
for the whole monarchy,
didn’t come through at the end.

Anyway now, they have a party.
Children play classical music
in the flower garden.
One ten- year-old could be Ian Anderson.
Two girls play like a string quartet,
hope the Blue Meanies
hold off for a while.

If you go to see the castle,
the Archbishop residence,,
where they had the filming,
the parliament, the Russian czar
and so on,
the painting gallery is actually free.
They have a Tizian,
Apollo and Marsyas.
Yes, the latter gets flayed alive.
Go see that first
before they close.

MW June 2019

标签：art, beer, castle, czech republic, garden, history, memory, Moravia, music, park, people, poetry, square, town, travel
发表在 17th century, 18th century, 1980s, 1989, 1990s, 19th century, 2000s, 2010s, 2019, 20th century, 21st century, Antique times, June, June 2019, Middle Ages, poetry, PR, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

MONTJUIC, BARCELONA

8月 18, 2017

MONTJUIC, BARCELONA

Montjuic means
mountain of the Jewish cemetery.
In the 1380s
the Jews were driven
out of the city,
gravestones were used
for castle walls.
1000 years ago
there was a light house.
Later the castles built on the top
were often used to shoot on the city.
There’s ample reason,
there are ample historical reasons
for independence.
Catalan language
is everywhere,
Catalan first, Spanish second.
The castle gives you
a history lesson
beginning in Hebrew
and a poem in Catalan.
Much of the city
was built from quarries
here on the mountain.
Today there is peace,
peace enough for reflection.
How much do you need,
how much cooperation,
how much solidarity,
how much economics,
how much is public transport…
What can you see
from the top of the mountain?