"Luftwaffe Luftwaffe where have you been?"

to London they say to cause a scene

a firestorm of devastation

a lesson of war to bow the nation.

 

Now as I look through a magnifier

at the 30's map the view distorts

under the glass bulging swaying as my vision shifts

north jerking west hither and thither

 

 ink runs with the camouflage of streets

now history is silent, gone away from

 black veins of railway yards choked off

feeding factories docks canals fanning out

 

all have gone the way of progress

bomb doors have rusted away

all the skeletons stacked

 

my glass my spy glass

still sees serrated roofs and hairline cracks

that split my mind

with legacies of histories left behind

 

Luftwaffe Luftwaffe what did you see

your duties hard wired to destiny?

Over my shoulder some fleeting breath

I sense and a night - veiled flight of death.