AFTERMATH (1945)

All this is ended now. It is over and done,
The vigil, the waiting for news, the counting of days.
Now you may walk securely beneath the sun,
You may read, or sew, or dream in a still haze.

The nerves will slacken at length, their tension spent.
You will wonder what to do with limitless time
Now horror is ended, thankfully content
To juggle with words, to search for the apt rhyme.

But not for long. Not forever may one endure
The numbing of heart and sense by a sick shame.
You have lived these days, You will never be wholly sure
Of peace, or breath, or the sound of your own name.

-Henriette de S. Blanding

Berkeley’s poetry Walk was laid in October 2003 along Edison Street between Shattuck and Milvia Streets. The route includes 128 metal plates with excerpts from songs, each of which is related in one way or another to the city of Berkeley.

In the current plaque appears a poem by the American poet Henriette de S. Blanding (1891-1973), who was born and lived in the San Francisco area. It seems that the song talks about the end of World War II.