grease gate

As I was taking a diversion through the neighbourhood that afternoon, my eyes suddenly fell on that gate. I had never noticed it before. Even after I had walked past it many times over the course of a year, it had always remained closed. Someone had rubbed it with grease.

Perhaps the gate was given this greasy treatment so that no-one would write on it and nothing would stick to it? Or was it a case of soiling that was smeared on out of malice? If so, the owner would surely have cleaned it after a short time. Or was it a kind of corrosion protection - did the owner have a large amount of grease left over and saved the paint? In this case, he would certainly have greased the entire gate. But: If he wanted to open the gate, he would always smear himself with fat.

Obviously this gate is not used. Because there is no sign of a handle or even a small locking cylinder. Neither lock nor bolt, no bell, no name plate. A gate that never opens, that only simulates an entrance? As you can see, the grease was applied by hand, why not with a cloth or brush? Or did someone draw these curves with their fingers afterwards, smearing a nice movement into this soft material, as if the gate is closed with large wings? Was there a seal, similar to the gate in Jerusalem’s eastern wall, which is supposed to be closed until the Messiah comes?

I observed how the fat changed colour over the months. First this sesame-coloured, amber-clear tone, then becoming cloudy, milk-brown, soon brittle ochre, eventually turning red like blood crust. I never met anyone on the street who could have told me who lived in this house. People who lived in the neighbourhood didn’t even know the “grease gate” when I asked them. Apart from that day, no-one could tell me what it was all about. It would almost be a shame to be given an enlightening, perhaps ultimately quite mundane and boring explanation.