Tall Herman & Freedom

Tall Herman, the highest of the towers, anchors one corner of the old city in Tallinn. As our tour guide mentioned some of the names, she seemed to be leading us toward Tall Herman. And she was, for a great reason.

We came through a portal into an open area, looking up at Tall Herman, as she told us of the Estonian flag: three thick bars, with blue (for the sky), black (for the earth the Estonians love to work in) and white (for hope). She told us of the day in 1991 when they took down the red hammer & sickle, actually before the time the USSR collapsed. The new flag was rung up to the cheers of hundreds, maybe thousands, standing right where we stood.

The area was quiet, she had not said what I wondered. So I asked. Yes, she was there. My first thought was that it was like hearing someone who watched Thomas Jefferson finish writing our Declaration. A wonderful moment, a holy moment, in praise of freedom.

A poem was in the offing, and here it is:

PRESENT & ACCOUNTED FOR

Our Estonian tour guide, leading us on a walk through Old Town,
Among the several towers of differing heights from Short Martha
To Tall Herman, up and down cobbled streets and past shops
Each staffed with smiling young women, blonde and costumed.
Past several churches, Russian Orthodox to Lutheran and more,
Her short-cut bright red hair making her an easy person to find
And her facts and anecdotes making her east to follow and listen for.

We rounded a corner to see the flag high atop Tall Herman;
Three broad bars with blue at top to show us the sky,
Black in the center for the soil that they love to till,
White at the base because white stands for hope.
The flag that was illegal to display when Estonia was a
Soviet Socialist Republic, where the hammer and sickle
Gold on bright red field was flown for half a century.
Until the day, as the USSR was crumbling under its own weight
When thousands of Estonians gathered right here in this spot,
Cheering and crying as the red sickle was lowered and the
Estonian flag was raised for the first time, in defiance, in a
Move for independence. Thousands were here at this spot.

And were you here, she was asked. Sometimes the shortest answer
Shows the most emotion. She looked at me, smiling, “yes.”