Dream Song: The Riesenrad in Wurstelprater, Vienna

When I was in Austria, I made a pilgrimage of film noir crime by walking the steps of Holly Martins and Harry Lime. These two main characters from Graham Greene’s The Third Man agreed to meet at the Riesenrad in post- World War II Vienna. When Holly refused to help Harry with his racket of selling penicillin, Harry made a move to push his friend out of the ferris wheel when it reached its highest point. Later, trapped in the sewers of Vienna, Harry tried to climb out only to find his exit blocked. With a nod, Harry asked the pursuing Holly to shoot him.

My own dream strangely parallels the movie’s climactic scenes.

Dream Song and Tourist Ride on the Riesenrad

inch up the black rocky crevice

my back scrapes across the slot

 

I see the giant ferris wheel

lost in the mazy

kiosks, steaming bratwurst stands.

my handholds help me

inch up the rocky crevice

 

Lifted up,

I become detached

from the other passengers

from Charlotte

from Vienna

from myself.

At the acme,

I tingle.

 

the black rocks are slippery

one foot at a time

thrusts me up

the rocky crevice

I squint at the light

 

Widening my eyes,

I see the Danube.

The wheel stops.

It is no longer possible

to open the cabin door

to shove someone out.

 

my head pops out

my palms shove me

out of the clammy crevice

a warm breeze fills my lungs

 

Sixty-five meters down

people are wandering about.

“Would you feel any pity

if one of those dots

stopped moving forever?”

my hips wriggle out

and I sway

till my rib cage fills

I wobble to my feet

sinking them

four feet down into the rock

 

Our cabins descend

so smoothly

one can set down

a glass of wine

on the white tablecloth

without spilling

one red drop.

I stretch my hands down

peer down

for a way down

I will not inch down

the black crevice

 

The red uniform

of the attendant

approaches.

He yanks the door open.

I have waited

fifty years

for this ride.

I hold Charlotte’s hand

to pulse the vibe

into her

and swagger jauntily out of the packed red cabin.

Theme from The Third Man. Anton Karas plays the zither throughout the movie starring Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton.