Pogrom and the Casual Tourist


you walk from the harbour in Oslo—uphill
to the old fort which dominates your view

enter the resistence museum—snap pictures
of pictures of the past and realize Norway
also suffered—and you proceed through dungeons
vast dining rooms—canons pointing south
against the fiord’s expanding lines into darkening clouds

as you snap pictures in a meeting room—moody shots
of stained glass—nooks with statues and white plaster

the sound of boots on wood stairs warns you before
army cadets fill the room and you move to the comfort
of solid walls—realize this is what they’ll die for

three days later over Lofoten's paradise jets break
the sound barrier and for a moment
you speculate about how god's army defends Eden