Dusseldorf

In an unreal pre-dawn half-light I gazed with much surprise Across the darkly flowing Rhine With newly-wakened eyes. The vista on the river bank Was as within a dream. A vision wonderful, surreal, Exquisite it did seem. These were not mountains, lochs and glens, Or misty forest scenes, These were as nothing Nature formed, No waterfalls or streams Or castles in the sky. So what amazing sight was this, So slowly passing by? This was concrete, steel and glass, Fired in imagination. Modern art, space-age design, The ultimate Man's creation. Soaring, swooping, sleekly blending Each shapely angle with its neighbour. Whose vision brought these things to pass ? What divine and perfect labour ? In awe I watched the passing scene And then, a moment's retrospection, This splendid affluence had been Forged in devastation, As from a hostile sky Came terror and destruction. Seven hundred tons of bombs Rained down in just one fiery night, The city was ablaze, and come the dawn, Still smouldering, a sorry sight. Gaunt remnants, stark, skeletal, charred, The fruits of war, forever scarred, But from the ashes, undeterred, Came inspiration to rebuild And heal the all but fatal wound. Faith in the future was instilled And esoteric dreams fulfilled. A phoenix rising, quite sublime, In Dusseldorf, on the River Rhine. Entered for contest "Foreign Travel"