The Washington times., 1931-10-26

4I1 UC bAObU4A4S esAOAASS eNSOO'
That's the most sensible thing
to do"
On the Job
Others follow suit. The
square empties perceptibly. A
second delegate is talking now.
He also advises calm. The
leaders will see to it all. They
are on the Job already. He in
dicates the lighted windows.
The best thing would be for us
to go home.
well! damn my eyes! So
that is all?" I say peevlshlyy.
We begin to feel rather alb
surd for having Joined in with
the mob. What did we want
exactly when we came here?
"Ach!" says Willy, disenchant-
ed. We shrug our shoulders
and slope off.
walk home with Albert and
then return alone. It is very
strange; now that my comrades
are with me no longer, every.
thing around me begins to sway
gently and become unreal.
A while back it was all mat
ter-of-fact and sure; and now
it has suddenly come loose. It
is so perplexingly new and
strange that I hardly know
whether I may not be dream
ing it all-Am I here? Am I
really here again, home?
There are the streets, cob
bled and sure, smooth, gleam-
ing roofs; nowhere the gaping
holes and gashes Of shells; un-
damaged the walls tower into
the blue night, gables and bal
comics Silhouetted against it,
making dark shadows. Moth
ing here has suffered the teeth
of war; windowpanes are in
tact and behind the bright
clouds Of their curtains lives
a huShed world, very different
from the bowling place Of
death where till now I have
made my home. .- ---
MuffIed Music
I come to a stand before a
house where there is a light in
the lower windows. Muffled
music is coming from it. The
curtains are but half drawn
and I can see inside.
A woman is seated at a
piano, playing. She is alone.
The only light is from a stan
dGrd lamp and it falls on the
white page Of the music. The
rest Of the room is lost in a
colorful gloom.
I gaze like one enchanted.
Only when the woman stands
up and moves noiSelessly to
the table do I step back hastily.
My heart is beating fast In
the wild light of the rockets
and among the shattered ruins
Of frontline villages, I had al
most forgotten such things ex-
isted-such streetlong, walled
in peace Of carpets and warmth
and women. I should like to
open the door and go in and
curl myself up on the settle;
I should like to stretch out my
hands to the warmth there and
let it flood over me; I should
like to talk and to Chaw out
there the hardness, the violence,
all the past; to leave it behind
me-. peel it off like a dirty
shirt.
The light in the room goes
out. walk on. But suddenly
the night is full of da~k cries
and indistinct voices, 1ull Of
faces and things gone by, full
of questions and of answers.
I wander far out beyond the
limits Of the city and stand at
last on the slope of the Kloster-
berg. Below lies the town all
silver. The moon is reflected
in the river. The towers seem
afloat in the air and all is un-
believably still.
Returns Home Again
I stand a while and then go
back to the streets and the
homes. Quietly grope my
way up the stairs that lead to
my home. My parents are
already asleep. I feel ashamed
I have come back so late.
In my room I make q light.
In the corner Is the bed with,
fresh linen sheets, the covers
turned back. I sit down on 1t
and so remain for some time
lost in thought. At last I feel
tired. Mechanically I stretch
out and pull up the blanket.
I sit up again suddenly had
quite forgotten to undreSS. At
the Front we always slept in
our clothes, Just as we were.
Slowly I take off my uniform,
put my boots in a corner.
Then, hanging over the end Of
the bed, I perceive a night
shirt. I hardly recognized the
thing. I put it on. And all
at once emotion overwhelms
me. I stroke the sheets, I bury
myself in the pillows, I hug
them to me, press myself down
into them, into the pillows, into
sleep, into life once again, and
I know one thing and only one:
I am here-I am here