Home

Footnote: Thursday, May 6th, 1937 [Repost, Typos Corrected]

My parents, ten and eleven years old,

residing on different sides of Jefferson Township,

and listening to the radio during or after supper,

heard the live report of the sudden explosion,

and then the complete engulfment in inflamation.

Who could have suspected that this could be

an excellent metaphor or simile

of what that housepainter was to bring upon Germany?


Starward

Author's Notes/Comments: 

I once read, somewhere, that Wallace Stevens' wife and daughter, Elsie and Holly, had been shopping in New York City that same day; and, while viewing the great city from the Empire State Building's observation deck, saw the zeppelin, Hindenburg, circle around as it waited for the weather over Lakehurst Naval Station in order to accomplish a favorable landing.

View s74rw4rd's Full Portfolio
  • Login to post comments
  • 112 reads

last updated 10 May 2023 - 9:02pm
©8 May 2023 - 2:32pm — S74rw4rd
9 May 2023 - 2:33am — patriciajj
patriciajj's picture

An imaginative take on the

An imaginative take on the horrific event, and yes, it very much seemed like a prophetic metaphor of what was to come. An interesting look back. 

 
9 May 2023 - 7:37am — S74rw4rd
S74rw4rd's picture

Thank you, although

Thank you, although admittedly, I came up short by not recognizing the exact date a couple of days ago.  Yesterday morning, I also watched an interesting documentary in which an amateur photographer's film of the explosion had been found in an attic or such, and offered a rather interesting perspective other than the "classical" network footage that become associated with the crash.  I was struck by the way the amateur film emphasized the dismal appearance of the daylight that afternoon, making the Hindenburg appear more like a ghost ship.  That added a very eerie quality to the view.

Starward