Jan Wenk Cedras

Christmas Card to Greg

Do you remember Dusseldorf

the Hotel Christina

and the lobby bar

where a fat old man

in several black overcoats                                                        

pulled off his beret

to reveal a swastika

tattooed to his forehead

and he shouted at us

Schweine! Schweine!

We didn’t know what we had done

except speak English to one another

and be young and agile.  

Small white Christmas lights

hung in two lines on either side of the                            

front door, and after the bartender

subdued him 

and to get warm,

we went out the front door,

and up the side stairs                                                                

to my room

where we took off our clothes

and bathed together

then slept

side by side                                                                             

Bruder und Schwester.

Jan Wenk Cedras has been involved in theatre, dance, and music for over thrity years. Currently, she lives in Rochester with her daughter who plays concert cello.