the signs of prague 1968

were all over the buildings
     still
in the spring of '69

svoboda!

among the images i still see
     though
they seem to have taken
an alternate deeper dimension
than the big headlines of
the crushed socialist experiment

not unlike the streetcars swaying
     swaggering
over cobblestone streets
     like those in my hometown
          (pittsburgh)

& the soviet tanks
of august 1968
coinciding with the chicago tanks & teargas
     of the democratic party convention
     (i can still taste it)

from the air
the farmland had a rich
     deep brown
     almost black color
land that had the look
of a thousand years
     of care
even through all the wars & invasions
& death
     there was that indomitable spirit
          to grow and nurture

even in the coffeehouses then
there was a brew
of revolutionary libertarian communes
(this is only an oxymoron to the stilted dogmatist)
     youth rebellion
     the world over
          looked unstoppable

and we each had our small part
in answering the call
     imperial war
     or principled resistance
     the prague generation
     our mentor

--- e b bortz