Műnchener Hauptbahnhof

Outside the Hauptbahnhof
sundry trades are made,
according to the hour
and the presence of Polizei.
All along the Arnulfstraße
they buy gold and coins and stamps,
or the portable technology
found in others´ pockets
by professionals and the desperate.
Here there are Casinos,
less redolent of Monte Carlo
than Montmartre;
there are Kaberetten
more seedy than Sally´s Berlin dive.
Next door stand mini-markets
selling Macedonian Merlot
and offering phone cards
with cheaper rates to
countries with different alphabets.
The trams – all electric efficiency –
dash past timorous tourists
who dare not cross the road.
The Hauptbahnhof stands immanent,
sending express trains to Prague
or Bremerhaven via Austria or
die Romantischestraße
and Nurnberg, where others
were sent not so long ago,
to answer for other trips by train
to oblivion and infamy.