Twenty years ago

[ellid]

I sat in front of the TV, glued to CNN, waiting for the tanks to roll through Berlin, just the way they'd rolled through Prague and Budapest, and the way they would eventually roll through Beijing. But twenty years ago, when the Wall came down, nothing happened. Hour after hour, as we sat and watched and waited for the horror to begin, Berlin remained quiet and calm.

Eventually I had to go to bed for work, so since my ex had the next day off, he took over. He was watching intently and stroking the cat as I went upstairs to get a few hours of sleep. he next morning I came downstairs to find him still staring intently at the TV. I said, "Have they come?"

He said, "No."

And they never did.


Talk about watching the world wake up from history.

Comments

[persevero.livejournal.com]

It was a curious kind of anticlimax, in a way, wasn't it? I've just unearthed my little lump of undistinguished concrete, which was brought back by a friend who was at a conference in Berlin that week - he just strolled up and filled his jacket pockets with portable bits from the rubble.

[ellid.livejournal.com]

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."