Sarah's Key

She was a girl, a Jewish girl, say society A girl, a girl, who was anything but lonely Living alongside her family All sweet and happily Hardworking father, bold mother Toddler brother, like no other Living in a apartment, wearing a golden six-pointed star Admiring all those free, Aryan children from afar The star stitched neatly on her clothes Why, you suppose? Symbolizing faith, symbolizing belief, symbolizing how a Jew was considered unique Her joyful go-to routine, was interrupted When people she trusted Let her down And people with that trust She let down Now she’s forced in a camp In a place where the only thing you see Is the roaming stench of blood and the thirst to be free Screams of women, tears of men How did this all begin? Where your eyes follow You see the sight of death, pain, and sorrow The girl asks herself, why? Is being who I am a crime? I must hurry, for I am almost out of time She clutches the bronze key tightly in her hand She clutches the memory of her promise, hoping her brother wouldn’t misunderstand She’s free! She’s free! They say she mustn’t go, but she need not their plea For her brother, is patiently waiting Silently ageing She’s once again in Paris, the place she once treated as her home The place she’s ready to fully roam Her brother, still locked in that cupboard, their secret hiding place But what’s this? A family has come to replace She runs and runs and sees The rotting corpse, and her brother’s crushed dreams