Downtown Durstein

In Austria the sin of the grandfathers

Is not acknowledged. No Jewish problem here.

Tiny Durnstein, a city of 485, was not anti-Semitic,

In truth, it hardly existed.

Two million visitors a year,  

Overwhelm this green valley 

That strides the brown green waters

Of the Danube.

I suppose, my acceptance

Of this tiny hamlet is tied to Vienna, and

An acknowledgement of times past,

Though it feels like a pathetic sufferance of convenience.

Strange, my indignation at its religion

And the Nazi history of this place,

Dissolves in the face of Durnstein tree lined parks,

Music and socialist leaning.