M.P.A. Sheaffer
Friedhof der Namenlosen
Just a few remain
Across the road,
Along the bank down there,
Those metal crosses,
Each with a stark, silver-metal Corpus
Marking the last refuge
Of the river-claimed
Before the river shifted inwards
And claimed the others again,
Devouring their bones
And planting their crosses somewhere
In the silt of the Danube Plain.
These crosses here,
Just above, on higher ground –
Secure, unless
The river shifts again –
These crosses mark the nameless –
Some found murdered –
All grappled
From the grip
Of the river,
Their water-weed-tangled hair
Mingling now with the grass
Of this higher ground
Where votive candles flicker more assertively
Against silver-metal corpuses
As mid-afternoon shadows
As All Souls Day thicken
Upon the rows of the crucified.
Note: Friedhof der Namenlosen (Cemetery of the Nameless), burial place for victims of the Donau (Danube River), situated near the point that the Donau Canal joins the river in Vienna.
Page(s) 96
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