Ode to My Tübingen

Diane Grace King
None could silence my heart's song
when I met the warmth of Tübingen
And in the core of the coldest season
this city did not hibernate until a forgiving time
It won me from debilitating thoughts of the land I had left behind
and it required me to become its citizen

Then on snaking bus rides down frosty mountains
I saw the shivering stems of wild rose bushes
beneath immortal fur trees whose cones had departed
to wilfully offer themselves to the earth
And while a Black bird waltzed on maple leaves
discarded by a wind of autumn
I thought nature could be easily pardoned
For neither the stems, fur cones or leaves
seemed to think their fate intolerable

On days when the sun lent its winter rays
to vibrant town's buildings
and outlined the patterned, cobbled lanes
where inhabitants paced hurriedly to destinations urgent
I marvelled at an azure sky crisscrossed by hundreds of jumbo jets
whose engines marked their paths with endless white plume
These, like the sun's rays did fade away
when a white cloak fell on Tübingen:

The snow would not be upstaged by all that had come before it
So it stole the instant when I slumbered
to descend where earlier a radiant sun had shone
And revealed it itself in quiet magnificence
when I greeted the morning
My constant companion in the days of premeditated departure
I saw the snow inspire restless play
in those youthful enough to ski down a mountain
or mould snowballs in a war called fun

What memories of this land should I retain
Should I hold forever dear the snaking bus rides,
the shivering stems, fur cones,
sun's rays in the core of anticipated icy weather
Or should I remember the vibrant highlights of fuchsia,
orange and pink on immaculately kept buildings
Shall I walk with eyes to the sky in anticipation of white plumes
and lay awake at night to catch the first flakes of snow?

I can afford to hold all of my memories for time without end
Although they constantly demand to be renewed
and beg to be offered the ability to live
in my eyes again
And so they will some day….
But until then, my heart is occupied with loving and longing
for a place of extraordinary beauty….
The place I call "My Tübingen"

© Diane Grace King 2005