Life in Poetry reading, writing, reflecting

Life in Poetry reading, writing, reflecting
April showers bring May flowers

Wednesday 18 August 2021

⌗WEP-Freedom of Speech-The Fresco-August 18th 2021

 


Welcome to another posting of the Write Edit publish Prompt.
If you would like to know more about the WEP Challenge or join the fun, please read here






this Month

The Painting prompt






The Fresco






1956 LEIPSIG



The hours ticked by, long, long, one crutch at a time; the needle seemingly stuck 



on each scratch of the mantelpiece clock's face. He applied each downward strike 



of his red imbibed brush as though it were a sword. 




Frowns of brown appeared on the workers' brows. Straight jackets 



and pressed pants, tight, encased their limbs. He shifted, a crick



in his lower back. Gustav's strain of concentration vibrated in each 



strand of his nervous system to wheeze out of his throat in a hiss 



of a high-pitched, barely audible whistle, like some alien signal nagging at his mind.




'At six sharp, the Master and the Herr Kommandant will stomp 



into the Great hall to survey, eyebrows knotted, the martial mural,' he thought,



 trepidation and dread  beating like dissonant gongs in his chest. 





'All I ever hopped for was a logged-walled home up on a lush hill 



overlooking the thick, reassuring forests with white-capped peaks beyond;



 greens, bright yellows and orange-streaked ochres in the shadow 



of my eyelids to enhance beauty on a crisp canvas,' he daydreamed. 




His reverie spanned a century, a whole lifetime, imprisoned 



in these few endless minutes fixing the final touches on months 



of intense labour: the sum of his apprenticeship 



that would either enslave him or cut down all future prospects.




The double oak door exploded with the din of dictatorial hard boots.



“Let's see what you have to show me today, Klaus.”



“Um, Herr Kommandant, here is the result of our Workers' Union efforts,”



 the Master crooned, turning his head sharply to Gustav 



as a warning and hissed “step back boy.”




The Kommandant moved his eyes away towards the wall to his left, 



feigning not to have heard this à parte, and raised his monocle 



like an aristocrat from the past century. 



While bending to examine a detail on the tunic of one of the Patriot Soldiers 



depicted on the mural, he let out a gasp of horror.




Was ist dieser Speck ab diesem Arm?” he boomed curtly.



The Master squinted behind his thick lenses and gazed intently, 



straining to make out the offensive blob, not risking to take a step closer 



so as to remain firmly behind his superior and not cast a shadow on the fresco

.


Gustav lowered his gaze to the toes of his galoshes, noticing as if for the first time, 



the film of white dust on them. He heart lurched as it clonked in his chest 



and he wondered that they didn't seem to notice, as it appeared to echo 



and bounce from floor to ceiling. 



He balanced from one foot to the other stealingly 



rubbing each shoe behind his ankle while a mischievous smile twitched on his lips.



 

   “It's a bird, a dove ! White ! What means this insult to Demokratisher Deutschland ? 



Wer hat dieses   getun ?”




Klaus, the Official Master Painter, fidgeted, rubbing his nail skin 



with his opposing thumbs and looked fixedly at the floorboards, 



an appalled face frozen on his features. 



The Herr Kommandant wasn't expecting an answer, Klaus and Gustav knew.



 They both waited, dreading  what would come next.


    

“Master Klaus, you will get to the bottom of this and bring me the culprit 


or it's your Kopff that will  roll!”



With these definite words, the Herr Kommandant wheeled towards the open doors 




and stormed out, Klaus tripped rapidly behind him, but not without a backward glance 



at Gustav, eyes burrowing holes into his soul. Gustav, innocence itself painted 



all over his cheeks,  shrugged his lanky frame once 



and shook his head decisively. Klaus resumed his march down the corridor,



 momentarily convinced. 




Gustav could still hear the ghost of the Herr Kommandant's outrage, 



mingled with the click of his boots down each marble step of the majestic staircase, 



long into the night. 




Before disappearing down a side exit, he had quickly taken up the brush, 



stuck it into a tiny mud of a puddle on the half-caked palette, raised his wrist, 



digging his forefinger and thumb  into the tip of the handle, took a step forward 



and halted his intent. A  thousand bursts of pure thought had ricoche'ed 



through his brain. For a few seconds, he had stood there, mesmerised 



by his own daring and had even feared his exhilarating sense of digression. 



However, his disgust and  craving for freedom that had somehow been buried 



under eddies of space and time had erupted like a volcano. The rush of adrenaline, 



his decision now fully formulated was like lava destroying any reticence 



that still lingered in the rumble of his life. He had taken a step back, resolute; 



eyed the dove, its uplifting wings, his poetic handiwork.



The grin on his mouth turned into a harmonious laugh, like a birdsong soaring 



out of the door to its cage. Then followed a sonorous “Sheiℬe” as it had dawned 



on him  that he had no choice. The brush had clattered onto 



the immaculate floorboard, his apron had been discarded halfway across the hall. 



Gustav had calmly stepped  through the concealed door to the workshop 



and flew back home  as if his feet hovered  on an invisible breeze.





In the morning he would step onto the train with his pass to visit his grandmother, 



born and still living in small village near Göttinger. With the recent uprising 



in Budapest, controls on the lines were notoriously rare. 



There he would shout out the truth  about the iron curtain 



which had cleaved his homeland into two by painting a real picture 



with his colours and his words.





©susanbauryrouchard



German


- what is this blemish on this arm ?

- who did this ?

- head 

- shit



WORD COUNT 930      FCA



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