Kamerad Poem by Bill Grace

After the wonderful but long delayed meal
After after dinner coffee and desert
After the table top conversation where hours were lost
From the depths of forty five years past
My poor performance in undergraduate German
The word emerged - Kameradin - comrade
Not from war or the severity of political maneuverings
But from peace and things profoundly shared
And it was sweet - so sweet -
That I lost track of time and fear
Time and fear which ordinarily
Almost always rule me
A scepter with out its king
Three magic hours of freedom,
Here on planet earth.