We were sitting beside each other at a work table
where piles of notebooks and papers, computer equipment,
empty coffee cups,
and the books that Gunter was unpacking
were illuminated by cold morning light from the window that overlooks the meadow.
"This belonged to my mother. The translation is awkward.
Something like An Era is Viewed," he said,
reading aloud the title of the book in his hand.
"Ein Zeitalter Wird Besichtigt, Heinrich Mann's autobiography,
written in Beverly Hills.
The long journey of the lives of Heinrich and Thomas Mann began in imperial Germany
and ended in Southern California, where many of the German exiles were welcomed,
6,000 miles away from home."
As if controlled by an unseen force, the book fell open in front of him,
to a place where there was a folded sheet of paper.
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