the shot I heard here on christmas eve
that chased away all my birds
feeding on their wild bird seeds
a feeding interrupted
that reminded me
of universal barbarians
that succumbed to total illusion
followed by total destruction
christmas 1944//1945 in Berlin
when the basement shook
when bombs and their detonations
blew out window frames
and the straight christmas tree
tall as the living room
fell flat onto the floor
that was before or later
when Berlin's night sky
was burning ...
the rest is hidden in books
of dictators and popes
of their theories and statistics
and
if you look
black and white pictures
of flattened churches
Now not so new illusions
are upon us in 2008,
again!