A Darker Shade of Grey

Auschwitz Train pulls up to the Platform with a thousand silent souls Broken eyes of the innocent, their tragic stories told The walk of Hell is all that’s left on the night of their final day Smoke from the chimneys an endless cloud of a darker shade of grey How was it we never saw these people in their need Did we fail the innocent when it’s innocence that bleeds Did the truth just pass us by of a distant land so torn? Why did these people have to die for the crime of being born Orange skies spread putrid ash in billows from the pyre Piles of clothes shed from ending lives are sickly growing higher There are no screams, nor falling tears, the silence ends their day Smoke from the chimneys an endless cloud of a darker shade of grey How was it we never saw these people in their need Did we fail the innocent when it’s innocence that bleeds Did the truth just pass us by of a distant land so torn? Why did these people have to die for the crime of being born Now the camps lie idle and silent the killing far behind The crosses in the churchyard stand poignant in the mind To the story of a simple prayer begins another day Ghosts from the chimneys an endless cloud of a darker shade of grey How was it we never saw these people in their need Did we fail the innocent when it’s innocence that bleeds Did the truth just pass us by of a distant land that’s torn? Why did these people have to die for the crime of being born Will mankind ever see the day when bloodshed is no more When people will walk hand in hand so unafraid of war Were lessons learned will truces hold will peaceful times soon stay Will smoke from chimneys always be a darker shade of grey Jane Shields (C)