From Ash to Ash

From Ash to Ash

The snowflakes were falling
And the smoke from the ruins and ashes still rising
When he walked into the store and she saw him
Buying his first shirt as a civilian
After 4 years of war and 8 years of uniform 5

Children of Age, Adults of Mind
The war accelerated childhoods
Some so fast they were never allowed to reach maturity
But youth lit up their eyes when their gaze met
And together did they engage the future 10

Building up, Building strong, Building fast – Building a new Nation
Leaving behind the brown, the grey:
Colours of the past
Now the pink of newborn children; the dull beige of their first apartment
Colors of the Present 15

No experience to look back upon, no guidance offered
but the fate of a ethnicity on their generations shoulders
Founding and refounding a nation and building a family
Parents, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents – the root of a clan
It must have seemed so swift to them 20

Together from beginning to end: 67 Years in two millenia
Mistakes were made, some corrected, others meant to last
But never did they part until sickness swept one away
Mere 2 months it took for reunification
With death in ashes 25

By Max Görlich, 16, John F. Kennedy School, Berlin, Germany