before the wall
came down,
there were  lines
12 hours long
for bread and kielbasa

and nuclear warheads raced
rhetoric east to west,
and back,
and rhetoric won

i sat on a train
westbound,
idling on the left side
of the border

ten 'gestapos' stormed aboard,
black leather boots
knee-high;
stern angled faces
missing smiles;
eyes of winter
and steel,
unblinking - blue,
sending chills through
and through

'you,' he said
pointing at me

open fist
flipping the universal
'come here' sign

60 minutes later
he conceded,
reluctantly

the 15-year old
black face smiling
in the mug shot
on my passport

was indeed - me

not some ****** student
trying to flee
the misery
behind those  iron curtains

to freedom

without walls 12-feet high
topped by razor-edged rolls
of barbed wire;

without food lines
12-hours long;

where choice
and opportunity
know no bounds.

~ P