At a first glance, this image appears to tell a coming-home story. The four soldiers coming from the east look as if they are taking a breath of fresh air. The smile of the soldier on the left portrays an emotion of pride and happiness. From what we can see of the east, there are no reporters. There are only soldiers in a one colour uniform providing us with a distinction between the colourful west and the monotone east. It is visually appealing because it illustrates a contrast between the two sides of the wall. The wall is lowering towards the beholder of the photo, creating distinct layering and making the photo highly informative. It’s an emblematic photo because it is taken at a moment when the wall is still up and only a small portion has started to fall. It is a raw moment as the communists and the capitalists, are re-integrating. The wall itself, from the west side, has been graffitied establishing an expressive connection from the western population. The bottom layer from where we perceive the image, displays a range of colours and people in all different outfits. There are some police men at the front as well as soldiers from the west side controlling the lowering of the wall. Everyone is bustling and pushing each other to get a good angle and view of the other side. There are many people attempting to capture this moment.
Two Million Hearts
It’s construction shrunk the space in my heart
Making me feel as if I would never feel again
Segregated, separated
A nation, two million hearts, in pain
A ticking time bomb, whose time never came
Twenty-eight years passing us by
The anticipating dissipating
As the cold from the war thawed
My heart defrosts, it’s taking a breath
Trying to reach out
Trying to connect
To all that we have missed
Held together by stubborn hostility
The rigid regulation, finally, letting go
A wave of bodies rush to the borders
Two million hearts, synchronized, aglow
My heart is racing
All around me, bustling
We long to grasp
What they have to offer
Rivalling armies integrate
Colluding in this task
Piece by piece, what once divided us
Cut down until it became no more.
No heart, nor soul will miss this story
Immortalized in the snapshots
The iron curtain has fallen
Entropy emerges
My heart is swelling
Beating to the crescendo of noise
Music that hails from the legend of a street party
Mingling, mixing
Their cocktail culture dominates
Our deprivation is depleting
We surrender our system
And give way for their creed
The chaos fuels my heart
A feeling that I will never loose
Undivided, united
A nation, two million hearts, in love
The above poem narrates, the nation of Berlin as two million hearts experiencing the end of the cold war. This portrays the synchronicity of the contrasting sides of the country. In the exposition, the war is introduced as “a ticking time bomb, whose time never came.” This metaphorically pays tribute to the tension surrounding the antagonist. “Rigid regulation,” is alliteration used to further define the conflict as division inflicted by the wall, a result from the war. The thawing of the cold war is a pun, which highlights the initiating incident. The rising action encompasses the emotion portrayed in the photo, anticipation for the fall. Researching the grandness of the events unfolding, as well as the context behind the photo; helps to fuel the poem with little events that occurred in order to create the big picture. Racing hearts, people bustling and the hope of capturing the historical moment. The unison of the armies who have come together to fulfill a common task. The climax, being the destruction of the wall, is an allusion to a speech by Winston Churchill in which he addresses the wall as an Iron Curtain. This helps the reader to grasp the concept of division between the east and the west. The resolution is the greatest party known to history, with two million attendees and the mixing of cultures. The conclusion is the consumption of capitalism by the communists who adopt their government system to mend their broken hearted nation.
Work Cited
Library, CNN. “Berlin Wall Fast Facts.” CNN, 8 Aug. 2018, https://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/15/world/europe/berlin-wall-fast-facts/index.html. Accessed 12 Apr. 2019.
Mallie, Gerard. GERMANY – WALL – COMMUNISM. 11 Nov. 1989.
Rank, Michael Scott. “What Was the Iron Curtain?” History on the Net, 2000-2019. https://www.historyonthenet.com/what-was-the-iron-curtain. Accessed 14 Apr. 2019.
Tonkin, Boyd. “Fall of the Berlin Wall: 25 years on, we remember the day the world fell apart” Independent, 27, Oct. 2014, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/world-history/fall-of-the-berlin-wall-25-years-on-we-remember-the-day-the-world-fell-apart-9821977.html. Accessed 13 Apr. 2019