A.D.
My unchristian ancestors: for a lifetime
they got along without God.
Though something always happened
that they had not foreseen. Two world wars,
the downfall of their city, diseases, or
what it is like to lose everything — freedom
stripped from them, twice in a row.
When unchristian beings (Hitler, Stalin)
took this only world they had and turned
it into a trap for millions, into hell.
They survived, with a good deal of luck,
though without religious persuasion. No word
about the hurried prayers in the air-raid
shelter, when under the sign of revenge, of justice,
the one with the latest technology
brought the empty skies crashing down.
They (the ones who existed) never
mentioned those fleeting moments
in which fear dissolved and everyday life
broke open like a fruit, a brittle fruit,
that contained more than just seeds, tears, grief,
and the ecstasies of the little people.