When she came to her senses, she had become a statue of Mary, lovingly holding the body of Christ after he had been taken down from the cross. Mary was not responsible for Christ’s death. After he was crucified, all she could do was shower him with endless, unconditional love. By becoming Mary, Kathe Kollwitz was finally able to stop condemning herself. On the other hand, as Mary she would no longer be performing the unique act of one individual, but might be dismissed with a single word, such as “Pietà.”

Startled, I came to myself. This was no time to be criticizing other people. If I dawdled here much longer, the venison she was cooking would get cold. I headed back toward the subway station. If I hurried, I would probably be in time.

MAJAKOWSKIRING

The German word Strasse can refer to various kinds of streets—some are straight, others twist and turn, and still others divide into two. Some are dead ends, while others are very long, and change their names many times along the way. Once in a while a street forms a circle, in which case it’s not a Strasse, but a Ring. A Ring can also refer to an engagement ring. And Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” cycle is sometimes called the Ring for short—before you know it, a tiny ring has grown into a huge cycle. And the ring that symbolized the bond between two people is now large enough to encompass the saga of an entire family.

After the wall around a castle town is destroyed, the modern street constructed where it once stood becomes a very large Ring. The Vienna Ringstrasse, for example, encircling the central part of the city, has lots of trolley stops on it. Majakowskiring, on the other hand, is so small you can walk all the way around it in about seven minutes.

When you leave the main street and enter this Ring, the traffic sounds completely disappear and all is quiet. Then your tympanic membrane begins to catch the chirping of birds until before you know it your ears are full of birdsong and you forget there even was a main street as air from the large park opposite, stretching out like a forest, gradually enters your lungs. There’s a castle in the park, and lots of trees taller than church spires—here, there, and everywhere. Trees, trees, trees, Bäume, Bäume, Bäume! While I’d like to stroll around this park for a bit, I still have things left to do back in Majakowskiring, so at least until I remember what those things were, I’ll stay here in the Ring, walking around it.

I was like a nun walking slowly down the corridors of a convent. I firmly believed that after several trips around the courtyard I’d find the answer. But without a sacred text to recollect, I wasn’t really a nun.