The Trustless Barrier

The Trustless Barrier

There may as well have been a fire.

There was the stop, as my feet hindered his next stride.

Then came the drop, an emetic thump to my reality.

But when he reached the roll

Some sort of perception resumed, not enough.

The rocking of his crescent spine

In contact with the German pavement

Yielded my atmospheric drowning.

All I could think was whether he would recoil,

My pupils so wide, I assumed they eclipsed all light

Or maybe it was only my mind, my conscience, my senses.

So sudden like some dawn to a certain dusk

A lack of day's hours

This juncture without reason

Enveloped only by the immediate night of tattered haze

A concoction of my tears and some furrowed darkness.

My vision severed

By the wall of east and west divide

My perception in scarcity; a peripheral absence.

Several by my side, glaring in their awe.

Only one came to aid

As this German gent offered his benevolent grasp,

Papa's southern swerve transformed into a northern balance

And with that grip, he resurfaced

To a foot, to a stand.

Grandma by my side

Our shared countenance

Linked through our oblivion

Gets fathomed by our stupefied gape

Might others gain a morsel of understanding.