Back to my Shtetl
They took me from the home I knew
A devil’s hand, treacherous and unseen
Like a soul ripped out of the body
These are crimes so obscene
My family was my anchor
even in the roughest storm
Yet the days coming to be
A waking nightmare, I warn
We were separated from my Tatte
Alone were my Mamme and me
Slipping through our fingers
Left only were his memory and desperate plea
My breath stolen from the depths of my lungs
My roots roughly ripped from the earth
Weeds named Nazi spread like a cancerous tumour
Destroying me, deciding my worth
Deaf to my heart-wrenching cries
Unflinching, cold-hearted, callous and cruel
Uncontrollable waterfalls that were my eyes
Helpless to his absolute rule
Stripped and undressed in the merciless hands of winter
Stuttering and stumbling, skin to skin
“Dusche” they said, lying through their teeth
One step at a time, we had to go in
Commotion stirred, men nearby yelled
They refused to be herded like lowly cattle
‘BANG’, crimson, red blood oozed around the stiff body
This was war, not some mere battle
In the midst of raging terror and chaos
My Mamme pushed me, hands tremoring
“Antloyfn” she urged yet my feet were stuck in cement
My mind was a scrap yard in all the clamouring
And yet I ran into the deep, dark welcoming forest
Not stopping until my body screamed no more
Looking back, I took peeks from the dense forest bushes
My body hugging the rough forest floor
I was a bird finally out of its cage
A dog finally free of its leash
I peeked back at my open cage
Awaiting what horrors might unleash
Heavy steps one by one dragging across
Back in line like obedient, terrified animals
Into the shower they had gone
Tired and worn like in asphodel
Footsteps never came out
Cries of horror and fear were just a memory
Still ringing in my ears
My Mamme was gone, together we will never be
Time runs past like a tortoise
Each second hammers into my heart
My Mamme was gone forever more
I had escaped but now we were apart
My chest tightens with grief and yet
I had survived
I had survived
I had survived…?
After all that has happened,
History is like a broken record
A mistake made once is quite alright
Twice is stupidity of your own accord
Take in my lesson, my horrors, my nightmares
I hope you have learned from this story of mine
Be the difference, make a change
Don’t let history repeat, free Palestine
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