Vienna’s past participles
The lesson is
that we are all history
history in the making
and that one day
we will be history
our acts finally over
and our achievements
hung out to dry
Empires fall
and the palaces and gardens
become curiosities
the days of grandeur long over
the vast imperial buildings
with their tall colonnades
and endless emblems
of power and authority
are empty relics
of the past
and everywhere you go
classical white statues depicting
every imaginable motif
creating a mythic atmosphere
and it is as though
it was all intended to recreate
a past in which once upon a time
it might have been noble to live
John Lyons
Ein Tag an der Donau
johnjosephlyons 