Katherine Braithwaite Poet Villanelle

So Europe Took Their Human Ash Within

In Bedzin and in Krakow they breathed in
What they denied in conscious thought or word.
The ashes of the Jews, the shades of skin

Penetrating lungs so deep within
The dead  unburied mixed, in air secured
In Bedzin and in Krakow, mortal sin.

The nearby people turned to burial urns.
The human dust by  breathing was allured
The ashes of the Jews, the shades of skin.

So  Europe took their human ash within.
A graveyard we became unknown, impure.
In Bedzin and in Krakow, more of sin.

And who they thought destroyed  lived on in them
Controlled their lungs, their hearts  their minds uncured,
The ashes of the Jews,  borne in their skin.

Like a mass communion without words
We ate and breathed the Jews, the gays, unheard
In Bedzin and in Krakow  we walked in
The ashes of the lost, the glades of skin,

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Amy Sullivan April 16, 2017 at 11:53 AM Deeply moving. A truly stunning piece. Katherine Braithwaite April 16, 2017 at 2:33 PM Thank you very much,Amy.I am pleased you liked it

Maureen McGreavy Pigeon Tart April 15, 2017 at 8:27 PM Haunting write, well done. xomo Katherine Braithwaite April 16, 2017 at 2:34 PM Thank you so much for reading it Maureen.