The wide, fierce strides
of square-jawed blondes
remind me of Dachau,
German shepherds, Irma Grese--
but that was so long ago
I begin to feel guilty.
The Marienkirche tour guide
nears tears as he tells
the damage to his church
in '44 as countless bombs fell,
but the ivory head and hands
of the madonna and child
were spared--Gott sei dank!
And this ancient and sacred statue,
safe now in a glass booth,
is clothed anew on the first
of each month. It has, he smiles,
as many clothes as a Barbie.
Bombs fell everywhere--downtown
too on the Frauenkirche,
seat of archbishops and a pope.
Last month an unexploded bomb
was found beneath a Schwabing bar.
The controlled explosion
destroyed nearby buildings.
An official explained:
the city can't be liable
for the long-term consequences of war.
Four years after his death,
the tabloid press reveals that
a beloved actor hid his past
in the Waffen-SS.
But did he choose it, they ask,
or was he forced?
Re-runs of his hit series
were immediately cancelled.
At a mini-Oktoberfest
a woman in her sixties
urges citizens to sign a petition
to prevent the building of a mosque
funded by the Emir of Qatar-
"he's a dangerous man, you know."
It's the Freiheit Partei
behind this, opposed to Islam,
"an ideology as well as a religion."
Their webpage features their hero,
Geert Wilders, the Dutch parliamentarian,
and self-proclaimed friend of Israel,
who has compared the Koran
to Mein Kampf. But as he explains,
"I don't hate Muslims; I hate Islam."
In the bookstore downtown,
the featured bestseller is
Er Ist Wieder Da.1
Oh Kleio, my muse,
you relentless scold.
Is it you who won't let go
or we who hold too tight?
The
Banded Leaf Monkey - Issue Twenty
The
Banded Leaf Monkey is a species of monkey which is endemic to
the Thai-Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra. It is diurnal
and is found in mixed mangrove, primary freshwater, riverbank, primary
lowland logged, scrub-grassland riverbank, and secondary riverbank
habitats. Arboreal and gregarious, it is primarily frugivorous,
as its diet consists principally of fruit and immature leaves. It
is found in taller trees of swampy peat forest in Malay Peninsula,
while in Singapore it is limited to primary, secondary, swamp, and
dryland rainforests of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve where
less than 40 individuals still struggle to exist. Considering the
extensive habitat loss that has taken place within the range of
the species, there is reason to believe that this species is in
decline, probably at a rate of less than 30% over three generations
(approximately 30 years), thus qualifying if for listing as Near
Threatened. Additionally, infant mortality rate is extremely high
for these monkeys - probably more than 50 per cent, which greatly
affects their replacement numbers. Deforestation and conversion
of habitat would appear to be the major threats to this species.
It is particularly affected by oil palm plantations, which are expanding
very rapidly within its range. In Singapore, which cites the monkey
as precious to their history, there is an effort to protect the
remaining forest habitats, and to police its habitat against poaching
and human disturbances.