In the Past, there were Poppies

In the past, there were poppies
amidst the cornfields,
and coconut chocolates,
and stars in the sky.

Starships, too, shooting
through tunnels in time –
we would doubtlessly board them
on the boundless quest.

Christina Egan ©2022

Nach Zimtsternen duftete die Welt

Nach Zimtsternen duftete die Welt
oder nach Zwetschgenkuchen und Kakao.
Jeder Morgen war ein Malkasten,
und jegliches Wetter machte Spaß.

Mit dem Strandkorb segelte man übers Meer
und mit dem Stockbett sogar unterm Meer.
Und übermorgen wäre man wirklich dort,
auf Madagaskar oder auf der Alm.

Christina Egan ©2024

The German poem was written as a pendant to the English poem. For children, there is no need for confidence or hope: their belief in the future is so firm that it feels like knowledge. There is no doubt you will be an explorer or an inventor or an artist, or a mother or father, or anything else…

The poppies and the stars are not just images for the happiness of childhood: there were flowers in the crop fields before pesticides eradicated them, and there were more stars visible until pollution veiled them. ‘Cinnamon stars’ are typical Christmas biscuits and cake covered with fresh plums a typical summer treat.

I suppose the ideas for travelling over land, over sea, under the sea, and in outer space stem from the timeless masterpiece Heidi, the unsurpassable television series Star Trek, the science-fiction novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and the documentary novel for children, Monika fährt nach Madagaskar.