The Iron Barricade

The Iron Barricade

When Communism's dreary shadow fell
On East Berlin and West Berlin, then one,
It snatched up half, and built an iron wall;
Impassable, and guarded moon or sun.

The people who in shadow dwelt all tried
To reach the light across the barricade,
While those in light ignored the darkened side,
Content in freedom's brightness, there they stayed.

I live in East Berlin. I know too well
How overcast the shadow makes the sky,
And how in desperate hope I scream and yell
In vain attempt to reach the other side.

I wouldn't mind my gloomy prison cell
If I had never seen a sky more fair.
But I was here before the shadow fell;
I know without a doubt the light is there.

Sometimes I wish my ears would cease to hear,
My mouth, to offer speech, or accolade.
O, foolish words! Though ardent and sincere,
I fear they somehow made the barricade.

You are the west; you live in freedom's light-
A light I shared before the iron wall.
Impassable? I hope with hope contrite
That someday soon the barricade will fall.

The wall no longer stands across the sea.
Perhaps that could be true for you and me.