S Bahn
(the overhead railway in Berlin with a stop either side the Wall, one in the East, one the West, to be ridden with caution.)
I never took the S Bahn
you could end up on the other side
if you missed your stop and
unintentionally extended your ride.
There were so many stories
about the treatment you could get
when the train was searched
and you and the comrades met.
Every coach was checked
as they did their security round
with very little chance to sit quietly
and hope you wouldn’t be found.
The Stasi were the bogey men
the true inspirers of fear
always aware of the lure
of the west so enticingly near.
Escapees tried so many ways
lured by the call of democracy
ready to risk everything
for the chance of living free.
They said the beatings were severe
with not least the threatened hell
of unlimited hours confinement
in a dank and cheerless Stasi cell
and then the double jeopardy of
posted absent without leave
with the additions punishments
erring squaddies could receive.
No I never rode the S Bahn
that potential magnet to all
to try and sneak on board and
get to the Western side of the wall.
Copyright © Terry Ireland | Year Posted 2022
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