O Gretchen 
du warst so schön
Your long hair 
Weaving its way
Into the sagest connections.
 
You spun your wool
And let the hairy goat
Twirl its thread upon the cross
Safe upon your bended knee.
 
Your laughter rocked the universe.
 
Your smile was large.
Like a statue woken from slumber
You wanted to taste the world
And shares it glories
The simple pleasures that wealth cannot buy.
 
You set the air fizzing
 
With chance and possibility.
You dreamt in so many languages.
You foresaw the babel of tongues
And how to make the world of service
Respond to this multicultural scheme.
 
That operatic voice
Spread its warmth across us all
And built the embers of desire
The ache to achieve:
Persistent, cajoling
 
You let the cowbells ring.
 
Near your coffin
The black and white photos
Float across the screen
Palpably you, the young heroic girl
With the wide handsome smile
Saint and sorceress
Wandering aloud with your patented dreams
Always in search of de betere wereld: 
O Gretchen
du warst so schön.



July 2020

​
Gar Jones