Auschwitz


      by Laura Nelson

          Candles lit in sacred
          silence
          Children playing in the streets,
          People loaded onto cattle cars,
          soldiers threatening.
          A flicker of candlelight-
          my mother, my father,
          my eighteen-year-old sister
          smiling,
          breathing,
          living,
          Children playing in the streets
          at home.
          I close my eyes, but still
          see
          people with blank faces,
          piles of empty suitcases,
          torn shoes,
          breathing,
          but not
          living.
          The candle dies out
          But my mind never loses sight
          of the tragic faces of
          children
          who used to play in the streets,
          nor the flaming star of
          David
          which remains
          branded
          on my heart.

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      Last update: 10 May 2000

      URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/kaleidoscope/volume2/auschwitz.html

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