Jessica Ramer
On the Berlin U-Bahn, 1985
When I returned to say my last goodbyes,
My body swaying as the U-Bahn rolled,
I saw a man with prison in his eyes.
He held his dog as if to exorcise
Some desperate sorrow festering unconsoled.
When I returned to say my last goodbyes.
The train pulled in. I left in chilled surprise,
But as the station’s escalator scrolled,
I saw a man with prison in his eyes.
I strolled the Breitscheidplatz, bought Turkish pies,
Pulled my thin jacket close against the cold,
When I returned to say my last goodbyes.
Outside its bombed-out church where scaffolds rise
Like bars, the Savior’s visage in their hold,
I saw a man with prison in his eyes.
Inside that cage, a one-eyed Jesus, wise
But distant, called his lambs into their fold
When I returned to say my last goodbyes
And saw a man with prison in his eyes.
Jessica Ramer is a doctoral student in poetry at the University of Southern Mississippi. Her work has appeared in South 85 and The Keats Letters Project. She was a summer 2017 resident at the Alderworks Alaska Writers & Artists Retreat.
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