Albert Einstein at Princeton

As he locked the door
Of their Berlin home
And descended the steps,
To his wife, Einstein said:
'Take a very good look at it,
You will never see it again'.

The writing was on the wall
Fumes were in the air.
In his travel diary, he scribbled:
'I am a bird of passage
And shall be flying...
Flying for the rest of my life.

The Nazis were crazy,
In a short while the Caputh cottage-
His Berlin home was ransacked.
His account was frozen
His papers were burnt.

He was then in the States,
Life proved very fluid, and mysterious.
Where appeared the end of cleavage?
Where were the dales void of gales?

After a cycle of life,
From Southampton on October 7, 1933
He boarded 'Westmoreland'
'Auf Wiedersehen' he bade Europe
Never to see those shores again.

Wearing a wide-brimmed black hat,
Carrying his violin case,
In ten days he landed at the New York docks,
Liberty greeted him with her lofty torch.

Princeton he soon arrived,
A lease of life he now really enjoyed.
Arrived at the Peacock Inn there
'Baltimore' offered him an ice cream.

A new venture at the Princeton University-
The Institute for Advanced Study.
As one of her founding fathers,
He served there for decades, illustrious.

While his office was set,
To the queries that followed,
His reply was an offbeat-
'A desk or table, a chair, pen and papers,
Also, a waste basket to throw the mistakes'

First a few months at 2 Library Place,
Then at 112 Mercer Street-
For two decades very wholesome life,
Simple, peaceful, eventful, and historic.

Upon her walls hung the following four:
Faraday, Maxwell, Newton, and, Gandhiji.
Here, his wife Elsa breathed her last,
Here, his sister Maja spent her final days,
Finally, he too.... he too....

Among the Princeton streets
Often he lost his way back home!
Driving was beyond his levels,
He preferred long walks.

A mountaineer across the Alpine range,
Once he had a miraculous escape.
Providence to life him brought,
Our world needed a genius, so bright.

Einstein desired no monuments,
No museums or landmarks.
Princeton preserves no trails,
Barring a few, hidden from lurking eyes.

In the rear corner of a shop 'Landau'
His memorabilia is on display.
In a corner of the municipal complex
Almost unnoticeable his bust is displayed.

He led a simple life,
In a higher order of power, he believed.
For disarmament, he fought,
For science and peace, he stood.

His home, now a private property,
Only a few can now locate it.
For the world, he is an iconic figure,
Beyond that, a humanist in every sense.
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